In 1905 Ernest Dawson established Dawson's Book Shop in Los Angeles, a meeting place for authors, artists, librarians, and collectors. Dawson was the first to issue antiquarian book catalogues in southern California and the first in the area to import antiquarian books from England on a large scale. His business was buying and selling old and rare books, but his interests were diverse and included the outdoors, religion, and politics.

Ernest Dawson was born to Mary Ann Grosvenor and Thomas Dawson in San Antonio, Texas, on 1 December 1882, the third of eleven children and the oldest boy. His sisters were named for plants: Lily, Rose, Violet, Daisy, Myrtle, Ivy, Pansy, and Althea. His brothers were Albert ("Bob") and Frank. His father was a carpenter, builder, and wanderer; he had been born in the United States of English parents, had married in England, and had moved to Texas in 1881. In about...