Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2003 Issue
Catalogue Review: Periodicals<br>From William Reese Company
none
True Texas Tales is a 1973 publication which might better have been called "Tall Texas Tales." It is focused on the supposed UFO sightings of 1897. Long before visiting aliens found their way to Roswell, New Mexico, they were visiting Texas. Supposedly, large blobs appeared in the sky above Dallas. Perhaps the best known incident occurred in little Aurora, Texas, a rural community not too far from Dallas. According to a report in the April 19, 1897, issue of the Dallas Morning News, a UFO crashed into a local windmill, shattering the spacecraft to pieces. The body of a lone pilot, "not an inhabitant of this world," was found and buried in the local cemetery. A military officer at the location is said to have concluded that the gentleman was a native of Mars. A log of his journey was found in his possession, but no one could decipher the Martian language. Despite the truly amazing content of this news story, it was never picked up by any other papers and was soon forgotten. Then, in 1973, the story resurfaced, in 1985 it was the basis of the movie "Aurora Encounter" (a fictionalized account of this undoubtedly fictional event), and it was featured on TV during the 100th anniversary in 1997. The historical marker at the gates to the Aurora Cemetery still notes that, according to "legend," the pilot is buried within. If you visit, you may not find ET as he has no stone, but look for the marker for little Nellie Burris, 1891-1893, with the classic epitaph "As I was so soon done, I don't know why I was begun." Item 859. $20.
There's an item here for collectors of WW2. Called Gismo. A Selection of Articles, Stories and Poems by Servicemen in the Pacific, it was printed in Australia in 1944. It opens with a tribute from Admiral Halsey, and includes a piece by the then unknown Alex Haley. Item 392. One copy at $75, another for $125.
Item 51 sent me to the dictionary: The Anagogic & Paideumic Review. "Anagogic" was easy to find. It refers to a spiritual interpretation of a text. "Paideumic" is not to be found, but was evidently derived from the term "paideuma," which Ezra Pound used to refer to the complex roots that form ideas. Editor Sheri Martinelli was closely associated with Pound and reprinted several of his works in this journal. Three of the six issues published, from 1959-60, are offered. $75.
Fans of 1960s folk music will appreciate Broadside. Forty-four issues from 1962-1969 are offered. First printings of lyrics or articles are found by such legends as Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton. Item 146. $950.
You can locate William Reese online at www.reeseco.com or by phone at 203-789-8081. If periodicals of this nature are of interest, you should do so. A second catalogue of periodicals is planned for some future date.
