Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2007 Issue
Texana from Maggie Lambeth Rare Books
Alleged Alamo survivor Madame Candelaria, looking every bit of 113 years old.
Item 126 is a very complete work about a fairly small area: Refugio, A Comprehensive History of Refugio County from Aboriginal Times to 1953. This book will be of interest to anyone who knows how to pronounce "Refugio." It is located in Texas' Coastal Bend, a couple hundred miles southeast of Houston. It was originally inhabited by the Karankawa Indians, later by the Spanish who opened a mission. It was the scene of a battle during the Texas Revolution, with most residents fleeing for safety. It's had its ups and downs since, booming for a while when oil was discovered. This is probably one of the few things missed in this two-volume compilation, since the man was only six-years-old in 1953, but Refugio is the birthplace of all-time strikeout leading pitcher Nolan Ryan. Oh, to speak like a native, replace the "g" with the sound of another "r." $1,750.
For Sam Houston collectors (and doesn't this include every Texas collector?) item 140 is the book Wright Howes described as, the "most exhaustive biography of the great Texan and of paramount interest to all students of the Republic and early Statehood." It includes not only a biography, but a second volume of 400 pages of Houston's state papers, letters, speeches, etc. This is a copy of the first edition of Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston, of Texas, published in Dallas in 1884. $200.
Pedro Jaramillo, or Don Pedrito as the faithful knew him, was a healer at the turn of the century. He developed a wide following in the border area of Texas near Falfurrias. Apparently he cured many, or at least they believed he did. Item 453 is Healer of Los Olmos and other Mexican Lore by Wilson Hudson, published in 1951. It contains testimonials from those who believed in Jaramillo's remedies and passed them down to their descendants. $120.
Item 271 is Paul Lester's The Great Galveston Disaster. Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times. If the title isn't clear about which disaster is the book's subject, the publishing date of 1900 is a giveaway. That was the year of the great Galveston hurricane. The storm surge overran the entire island city, killing around 8,000 of its residents. It remains the deadliest hurricane ever to hit North America. This contemporary book includes many photographs taken shortly after the disaster. $50.
You may reach Maggie Lambeth Rare Books at 830-833-5252, or visit them online at www.texanbooks.com, email [email protected].
Rare Book Monthly
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Sotheby’s Geek Week
14-15 JulySotheby’s, July 14: Henry De La Beche. "Awful Changes," 1830. $6,000 to $9,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 11]. Flight Plan, Complete Original Printing Signed by Buzz Aldrin. $5,000 to $8,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: Thomas Alva Edison. Documents Establishing and Ending the Edison Electric Railway Company. $20,000 to $30,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: Richard P. Feynman. Feynman's Lectures on Gravitation 1-16, Including the Original Transcriptions of Lectures 12-16 by Morinigo and Wagner, With Richard Feynman's Manuscript Notations, 1971. $12,000 to $18,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [Apollo 9]. A Group of Manuals and Mission Documents used by Stuart Roosa as a member of the Astronaut Support Crew. $5,000 to $8,000.Sotheby’s, July 15: [BYTE: The Small Systems Journal]. A collection of early foundational issues of Byte: The Small Systems Journal, with rare hardcover editions. $5,000 to $8,000. -
Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Inundation papyrus. P.Michael 4, the ‘Inundation papyrus’, a geographical account of the Nile near Canopus, in Greek, remains of two columns from a manuscript scroll on papyrus, Egypt, second century CE. £12,000-18,000Forum, July 16: Book of Hours, use of Sarum, manuscript on vellum, 6 full-page miniatures, with famous Middle English inscriptions, Southern Netherlands for the English market, [c.1430]. £30,000-50,000Forum, July 16: Qu'ran, Arabic manuscript on burnished, stencilled, and gold-flecked paper, 447ff., Sultanate Gujarat, Ahmadabad, [after 1411 but no later than 1442]. £15,000-20,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Turner (William). A New boke of the natures and properties of all wines that are commonly vsed here in England, rare first edition of the first English book on wine, By William Seres, 1568. £20,000-£30,000Forum, July 16: Spenser (Edmund). The Faerie Queene. first edition, Printed [by John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. £30,000-40,000Forum, July 16: Shakespeare (William). The Comedie of Errors, extracted from the first folio, Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, 1623. £15,000-20,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Fleming (Ian). Casino Royale, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1953. £40,000-60,000Forum, July 16: d'Agoty (Jacques-Fabien Gautier). Anatomie de la Tête, first edition, Paris, chez le Sieur Gautier, 1748. £10,000-15,000Forum, July 16: Martial Arts.- Lee (Bruce). 'Praying Mantis style' Kung Fu book, containing numerous annotations, diagrams and graphs in Bruce Lee's hand, c. 1960. £50,000-70,000Forum Auctions
The 10th Anniversary Sale
Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
July 16, 2026Forum, July 16: Warre (Capt. Henry James). Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory, first edition, rare hand-coloured issue, 1848. £30,000-40,000Forum, July 16: Norie (John William). The Marine Atlas, or Seaman's Complete Pilot for all the principal places in the known world..., 1826. £30,000-50,000Forum, July 16: Mao Tse-tung.- Kim Il-sung.-[Note book for visitors from China to Korea], signed by Mao and Kim, [Beijing, 1954]. £10,000-15,000