Articles
Below is a wonderful article submitted by Len Ainsworth of Adobe Books in Lubbock, Texas. Len has been asssociated with Texas Tech University, The Book Club of Texas and the Texas Booksellers Association for years. He owns Adobe Book Collection in Lubbock and we would like to thank him for this very nice piece.
A Desirable Texana Dozen
Some of the most difficult to acquire Texana books are because they seldom appear for sale. Some are because of price, ostensibly because of their scarcity. Here are a desirable dozen. I’ll stick to books produced in the last 170 years, to include a favorite history. Your comments, denials or substitutions are welcomed.
Like some reading this, I spend (waste?) time gathering information about Texana, books about Texas, by Texans, or otherwise Texas related. How many places there are to look! Electronic sources for trolling include, ABE, Alibris, Amazon, Biblio, and the list goes on. Dealer catalogs show current offers; regular lists appear from TBA members Cactus, Kenston, Old West, and Wright, among others. Less regular, but with careful descriptions, are Dorothy Sloan’s. From out-of-state, catalogs from Dumont (New Mexico), Swinford (Arizona), Hollingsworth (California), and Buckingham (Pennsylvania) are examples. There are the older “staple” bibliographies and best lists, Raines, Streeter, Dobie/Dykes, Adams, Reese, Jenkins, Green (and Cox’s addition), and Morrison’s most listed to name a few.
What are a few of the really hard to acquire items for the Texana collector? These may be called scarce, rare, or simply out of reach of many buyers. Price is not the only determiner of desirability or rareness, but may be a good place to start. The most expensive “Texas” book currently offered on the internet is (1) Bateman’s The Instinct Never Dies. There were precious few produced, but at least one copy is available, at $29,000. I have watched the price go up on this one for years.
One of the most expensive Texas History books is available in a few copies on the internet. This is (2) N. Doran Maillard’s, History of the Republic of Texas, 1842, with a neat folding map, that is offered for $11,000 and up by a couple of dealers.
Two “wife books,” one by a wife and another about a wife, by two writers with a West Texas base are on the “pricey” and rare list. The (3) Diary of Nancy Lea is not by Tom Lea, but he and Carl Hertzog produced it in a very limited number. Estimated by Hertzog to be no more than twenty-five copies, it may take more than five figures to acquire one – if one comes up again in the next few years. This rare volume may become slightly more available as the original recipients die and estates are disbursed – or maybe not.
J. Evetts Haley’s (4) Ode to Nita, his first wife, rarely shows up. As auctioneer for a Texas Tech Library Friends sale a few years ago I sold one for $1,000. I should have bought it. A few months ago Cactus Books catalog listed a copy for $2,200. I called, it was gone. Felton said that was the first item sold from that catalog. More recently another dealer had one for $2,700. I have an older friend who has one; if he goes before me I may have another chance.
J. Frank Dobie’s books may be had from a dollar to several thousand. Two that make this list are the “pony hide” bound (5) The Mustangs, and the “Rawhide” edition of (6) The Longhorns. Both of these are limited editions and not all Texana collectors have even seen one. These are dressed up first editions, with the horsehide binding in 100 copies and the cowhide in 265. A pair of these in fine conditions would near the five figure mark, even in the current economy. A fancy reprint of JFD’s Coronado’s Children, the one by Neiman-Marcus, must be desirable to many as it will take about $1500 to put one on your shelf.
A seldom seen Tom Lea item is (7) George Caitlin Westward Bound that was printed by Hertzog in 115 numbered and signed copies in 1939. A fair estimate is $2,500 for a nice copy, if one again is listed. The print run for a contribution by one of Lea’s compadres is not known. Jose Cisneros often had books printed by Carl Hertzog. But an earlier publication was printed in Juarez. Perhaps not a true Texas book, but the cathedral subject can be seen from El Paso and Cisneros is a recognized Texas treasure. The book (8) Historia del Templo de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, by de Velasco and Calleras was illustrated by Cisneros with several full page drawings and fancy printing. Only one, to my knowledge, has been offered in the past ten years, advertised at $3,000.
There is one book in Green’s 50 Best that isn’t expensive when found, but it is rarely found. I looked at catalogs, book shows, bookstores, antique stores, estate, auction, and garage sales for over ten years before finding one, then less than twenty dollars. (9) The Inheritors, written by Philip Atlee was published in hardcover by Dial in 1940. A paperback version under another title is almost as hard to find. Surely they will show up in the Fort Worth area since that is the setting of the story, and the generation that would have bought the first issue must be moving on in age.
One that seems to be procurable only as a reprint would be a truly desirable find. The Western Frontier Library, of the Oklahoma University Press, reprinted (10) 24 Years a Ranchman, by Hale, from one of three copies of the book known to exist. I think much of the book is fiction – from the number of people reported killed – but there are some elements of truth about early Texas as well. It may have been suppressed by the author, as he seemingly admits to hanging a Pinkerton detective. Surely there must be other copies.
A book that seldom appears in a true first edition is Cassin’s (11) Illustrated Birds of California, Texas…etc. The 1856 Lippincott edition shows a whopping range from $2500 to $25,000 in recent listings. Can condition make that much difference?
To make this a baker’s dozen, I’ll include two more. A first of Larry McMurty’s second book, (12/13) Leaving Cheyenne, seems to keep increasing in price – except when found in an estate sale, as a friend gleefully reported to me that he found one recently for $5., instead of the five hundred and up as some are advertised. I suppose that’s what keeps many of us on the hunt. Most of those above have been West Texas related, but the last to be named is from Southern writer William Faulkner. His (12/13) Miss Zilphia Grant was reprinted by the Book Club of Texas in 1932, and it will take almost that many dollars to acquire one of those slim volumes today.
I don’t claim that these are the most desirable Texana books, but they seem worthy of consideration because of scarcity and cost. I’m keeping an eye out for them – at bargain prices, of course. Your dozen desirables will undoubtedly differ from those named. How about sharing your choices?
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