Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - August - 2013 Issue

Early Western Americana from Old West Books

Dead cow meat from the West.

Dead cow meat from the West.

Item 26 is a twist on the typical Indian Captivity: Pioneer Days, by Mary H. Carmichael. Published in 1917, it focuses on multiple captivity escapees. There was Charles Hess, captured as a child when his family was wiped out, who later returned to white society and worked for the Northwest Company. Still, it did not turn out well for Hess. He married a Chippewa woman, and one day, returning after hunting Buffalo, he found his wife and all but one of his children had been slaughtered. It was not because of him. They were killed by a band of Dakotah Indians. Evidently, they hated the Chippewa even more than the whites. Then there was Lewis Wetzel. He was captured at the age of 13 with his younger brother, being wounded in the process. Two nights later, he led his brother on a daring escape back to his community in what is now West Virginia. Wetzel was scarred, perhaps more emotionally than physically, as he spent many of the years ahead getting his revenge. It is said (in this book) he killed 27 Indians. Wetzel had an unusual talent – an ability to load his rifle while running at full speed, which enabled him to defend himself against all comers. The book includes numerous other stories, for whose accuracy we cannot vouch. $275.

James MacDonald might have worded the title of his 1878 report a little differently: Food from the Far West; or American Agriculture with Special Reference to Beef Production and Importation of Dead Meat from America to Great Britain. It provides information on cattle raising in the American West. Still, everyone knows that when you are shipping meat, rather than cattle, it is dead, so why the need for specifying it as “dead” is not clear. We always eat meat that is dead, but who wants it described as “dead beef,” or “dead chicken,” or “dead fish?” Item 62. $475.

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

Rare Book Monthly

  • Gonnelli
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    Gonnelli: Pietro Aquila, Psyche and Proserpina,1690. Starting price 140€
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    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli Goya y Lucientes Francisco, Los Proverbios.1877. Starting price 1000 €
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    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
    May 20th 2025
    Gonnelli: Andrea Del Sarto [school of], San Giovanni Battista, 1570. Starting price 25000€
    Gonnelli: Carlo Maratta, Virgin Mary and Jesus, 1660. Starting Price 1200€
    Gonnelli: Louis Brion de La Tour, Sphére de Copernic Sphere de Ptolemée / Le Systême de Ptolemée. Le Systême de Ticho-Brahe…, 1766. Starting price 180€
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    Auction 59
    Antique prints, paintings and maps
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    Gonnelli: Marc’Antonio Dal Re, Ville di Delizia o Siano Palaggi Camparecci nello Stato di Milano Divise in Sei Tomi Con espressevi le Piante…, Tomo Primo, 1726. Starting price 7000€
    Gonnelli: Katsushika Hokusai, Bird on a branch, 1843. Starting price 100€
  • Dominic Winter Auctioneers
    May 14
    Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration
    Dominic Winter, May 14: (Choiseul-Gouffier, Marie). Voyage Pittoresque de la Grece, 2 vols, 1st edition, 1782-1822. £2,000-3,000
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Gentlemen's Magazine and Historical Chronicle, by Sylvanus Urban, 11 volumes. £700-1,000
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    Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Drayton (Michael). Poly Olbion..., London: 1622. £2,000-3,000
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    Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration
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    May 14
    Printed Books & Maps, Travel, Atlases & Exploration
    Dominic Winter, May 14: Taylor (John). All the Workes of John Taylor the Water-Poet..., 1630. £1,000-1,500
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    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
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    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR

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