Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - April - 2018 Issue

Rare Western Americana from Old West Books

Catalog 43 from Old West Books.

Old West Books has released their Catalog 43 of Rare, Out of Print Books on the American West. This is a new selection of obscurities and classics, a place where well-known names, such as Custer, Jesse James, and Sitting Bull, can be found alongside those less well-remembered, such as Frank Rande and Oklahoma Charley. Lawmen and outlaws battled, soldiers forced the native population into smaller and smaller enclaves, cattlemen drove herds across the plains, and the railroads came, opened up the land, and settlers followed. With that, the Old West faded away, but it is still remembered in the books found in this catalogue. Here are a few.

 

We begin with a biography of a famous outlaw, by his namesake son. Item 49 is Jesse James My Father. The First and Only True Story of His Adventures Ever Written, by Jesse James, Jr. James, Jr., explains that he wrote this book to set the record straight, that not a single other account of his father was accurate. "I have read them all, and there is not one of them that did not do cruel injustice to the memory of my father and to his family. In none of these books, and in none of the thousands of newspaper articles that have been written about him, have I seen him credited with having in his nature any of the human attributes of kindness, charity or honesty of purpose." While his father was often away, and invariably heavily armed, Jesse James displayed those aforementioned attributes to his family and friends. Jesse, Jr., says his father could often walk around in public, and though recognized by friends, none ratted on him despite the $20,000 reward. In the second half of the book, James, Jr., recounts his own case of being accused of train robbery. He was acquitted. This is the 1906 edition of a book first published in 1899. Priced at $60.

 

Jesse James got his start with Quantrill's Raiders in Missouri, a group of former Confederates who seamlessly moved from last ditch supporters of the lost cause to criminals supporting their own personal interests. From the Raiders emerged the James-Younger gang, Jesse and his brother, Frank, and the three Younger brothers. Jesse was shot down in 1882, Frank was acquitted of murder, but the Younger brothers ended up in prison. The writer of this book, W. C. (Wal) Bronaugh spent 20 years of his time and his own money to free them. The title is The Youngers’ Fight for Freedom: A Southern Soldier's Twenty Years’ Campaign to Open Northern Prison Doors, With Anecdotes of War Days, published in 1906. Bronaugh saw the Youngers as fellow Confederates, "last relics" of the Civil War imprisoned, though it was their later deeds that put them in jail. Bronaugh's persistence eventually paid off. It was too late for Bob Younger, who died in prison, and Jim Younger killed himself the following year, unable to cope with the outside world. Cole Younger, however, managed to live a normal life, at one point touring in a "Wild West" show with Frank James. Item 14. $165.

 

This next one is what Old West calls "The 'Holy Grail' of Custer / Indian War Books." It is My Life on the Plains or Personal Experiences With Indians, a first edition, second issue published in 1874. It describes Custer's experiences with Indians prior to the one for which he is remembered. This is a significant Western book, but not just any copy is a Holy Grail. This one is because it has been signed by Custer, "With the Compliments of G. A. Custer BVT Major General U. S. Army May 14th 187_. That could be 1875 or 1876. If 1876, it was barely over a month before his demise. Tim Phelps of Old West writes that he has never seen a signed copy for sale in over 20 years of searching and is only aware of four signed copies in existence. In this catalogue, he recounts the tale of first hearing about this copy, and the adventure involved in getting it. Item 26. Price on request.

 

Oklahoma Charley, whoever, if anyone, he was, sounds like an entertaining character. I can find nothing on him, so perhaps he was a fiction. Item 46 is Oklahoma Charley, Miner, Cowboy, Corndoctor, Indian Scout, Invalid, Prospector, Polygamist, Horsetrader, Snakecharmer, Book-agent...and Booze Fighter, by Marion Hughes, published in 1910. A contemporary advertisement says it "will split your sides with laughter." Western bibliographer Ramon Adams was not so kind, calling it "ridiculous" and "drivel." Whichever, it is rare. There is only one way to find out who is right. $600.

 

This rare pamphlet contains nothing but the truth. We know this because the author and publisher emphatically say so. No Oklahoma Charley stuff here. The title describes it well: Real Life on the Plains! Written by Capt. S. S. Van Sickel, During a Short Period of His Life on the Plains, Giving an Account of Some of His Experiences with the Indians and His Narrow Escape from Death During one of the Severest Storms Ever Known on the Plains. During this Storm His Comrades all Died, and He Alone Made His Escape! With the Loss of Nearly all His Fingers, as you will see when he Presents to you this Book; Also the Loss of Portions of His feet, Which is More Severe than the Loss of His Hands, Since Which Time He has been Unable to Perform Manual Labor... This is not a Novel, but a True Story of the Author's Own Experience! Written Wholly by Himself, and he Vouches for the Truthfulness of Every Word Herein Contained, Using as Few Words as Possible to Give Facts. The first word in this story is "In," and like every word in this story, it is truthful. This is the 1885 edition of the rarity first published in 1875. Item 87. $1,750.

 

Item 61 is Life Among the Sioux Indians, by Cicero Newell, published in 1884. Newell was a U. S. Indian Agent, and he includes sketches of various leaders, such as Sitting Bull, and gives descriptions of Sioux life. Most notably, a woodcut on the back cover depicts the aforementioned General Custer's final battle, while Newell's commentary inside is brutal. Newell says, "Had Custer obeyed orders and waited until the command all came up, they could have forced the Indians to come in as prisoners, and thereby ended the Sioux war. But his haste to get all the glory of killing these people, led him to make the attack against the orders of his superior officers." Newell says the Indians are portrayed as murderers, when all they were doing was defending their women and children. He concludes, "Custer found a camp of women and children on the Wichitaw Creek some time before, where he murdered over 300 women and children, who had no one to defend them." This refers to what is politely known as the "Battle of Washita River," or not so politely as the "Washita Massacre." $2,750.

 

Old West Books may be reached at 719-260-6030 or oldwestbooks@earthlink.net. Their website is www.oldwestbooks.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
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    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
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    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD
  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
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    Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
    Choice Selections from the Eric C. Caren Collection
    Part IX
    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
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    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.

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