Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - September - 2010 Issue
The Desert Southwest and More from Back of Beyond Books
John Hillers' transparency; Edward Abbey's Cadillac.
Number 82 is a remarkable item, a large hand-colored photographic transparency from the late 19th century. The photograph was taken by John K. Hillers on his last western trip for the U.S. Geological Survey. It is possible that John Wesley Powell had requested this and other photographs of Hillers for display at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1892. The exquisite 28" x 32" positive has been carefully hand-colored, displaying red cliffs behind a lake at sunset (or sunrise). $12,500.
For those interested in rural settings, item 71 is Golden Nuggets of Pioneer Days: A History of Garfield County. Named for the President, not the cat, this is Garfield County, Utah, an isolated location in the lightly-populated southern part of the state. Even today, there is fewer than one resident per square mile in the county. This is not New York. Parts of three national parks, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and Canyonlands, are located within the county. If Garfield seems isolated today, think of how difficult it was to get there when this book was published by the local chapter of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers in 1949. $48.
We will close with an item that is definitely not a book, nor printed material, though it is related to the region's most notable writer, Edward Abbey. Abbey fought to preserve the land from encroachment by both business and government through books such as The Monkey Wrench Gang. We will call item 88 a piece of ephemera. It's Abbey's 1975 Cadillac Eldorado. It is a cherry red two-door convertible, complete with his license plate, "E ABBEY." The untraditional environmentalist must have loved the contradictions of his gas-guzzler. $19,500.
Back of Beyond Books may be reached at 435-259-5154 or andy@backofbeyondbooks.com. Their website is found at www.backofbeyondbooks.com.
