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Welcome to Back of Beyond Books' recent acquisitions list. While we specialize in books of the American West, these listings will run the gamut of genres. You're receiving this list because you've either purchased from us or are a friend in the business. If you prefer not to see these monthly postings you may easily unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of the page.
This month we feature some gems of Western Americana and Texana, and a few notable Civil War publications. Items of note include John Henry Brown's "Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas," a first American edition of Ross Cox's "Adventures on the Columbia River," and John Stevens' account of serving as a soldier in Hood's Texas Brigade, titled "Reminiscences of the Civil War."
We are currently working on our next catalogue (Catalogue 22!) which will feature strictly Americana material. We know we've teased you for a while about Cat 22 but the pandemic has slowed the process. So in the meantime, we'll tease you with some material similar to what will be in the forthcoming catalogue. Let us know if you have any great archives, ephemera or books that you would like to sell!
We buy collections and maintain want lists. Books are subject to prior sale and may be held for one week. Any item is returnable within two weeks for a full refund. Dealer discounts and institutional billing are available for all books we offer.
Back of Beyond Books hosts an open shop in the red rock paradise of Moab, UT. Due to the Corona Virus, we have closed our doors to browsing for the time being. The store is staffed 6 days a week, and we are happy to help select and mail books, and assist you in any way we can. Feel free to call us at 435-259-5154 or 1-800-700-2859. Currently our hours are Monday - Saturday, 9am-5pm.
Thank you,
Andy Nettell
Back of Beyond Books
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Texas
Holley, Mary Austin
  Lexington, Ky., J. Clarke & Co., 1836. First Edition. 12mo 7" - 7 ½" tall. 410pp. Hardcover. Good. Rebound in full leather; map is in facsimile; housed in modern slipcase. Ex-library with only a few notations found on title page. Boards are clean; text block has light foxing and soiling; facsimile map is clean.
From Jenkins: "An entirely different book from Mrs. Holley's 1833 volume, this contains a great deal more information on Texas history, geography, and society... and has considerably more influence than her earlier work. In addition to the San Jacinto reports, it includes the first book printing of the Texas Declaration of Independence, of the Republic of Texas Constitution, of Travis' famous letter from the Alamo, of Austin's Louisville Address of 1836, and other key documents of the revolution." Howes H-593. Jenkins Basic Texas Books 94. 021087. $1,300
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Some Biographies of Old Settlers. Historical, Personal and Reminiscent
Johnson, Sid S.
Tyler, Texas, Sid S. Johnson, 1900. First Edition. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 400pp. Hardcover. Very Good. Rebacked with new spine, corners, pastedowns and endpapers; original maroon boards; all edges dyed red; includes b&w illustrations. Original boards have light scratching and wear to edges; text block has light soiling.
Contains around 75 biographical sketches of early settlers of Smith County, Texas, along with a brief history of Northeast Texas. Howes J-151. 021086. $275
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Memorial and Genealogical Record of Texas Containing Biographical Histories and Genealogical Records of Many Leading Men and Prominent Families
Chicago, Goodspeed Brothers, 1895. 4to. 465pp. Hardcover. Good. Rebacked with original leather boards with gilt lettering; newer cloth spine has gilt title on spine; all edges gilt; b&w plates throughout. No author information present. Original boards have moderate chipping to all edges and light soiling and scratching; endpapers have moderate toning and text block has light foxing.
This record contains a brief history of Texas followed by biographical sketches. Includes b&w plates depicting portraits, maps, and prominent architecture. No copies from this year found in commerce. Not found in Jenkins Texas Basic Books or Howes. 021056. $325
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Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas
Brown, John Henry
Austin, Texas, L. E. Daniell, [1896]. 4to 11" - 13" tall. 762pp. Hardcover. Good. Rebound with modern leather binding; about two-thirds of the original binding is tipped onto newer boards; all edges marbled. Newer binding clean, original binding has scratching and cracking; previous owner's inscription on front pastedown; rear pastedown has minor deterioration along top edge; text block has light foxing and soiling.
From Jenkins: "This is Brown's most important book and one of the best works on Texas Indian fighters and early pioneers...the large volume contains hundreds of biographical sketches of early Texans of the 19th century, with an immense amount of material that appears nowhere else. Most valuable of all are the accounts of numerous fights and skirmishes between early Texans and Indians." Jenkins Basic Texas Books 23. Howes B-857. 021055. $650
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 Wild Bill Longley - A Texas Hard-Case
Bartholomew, Ed
Houston, The Frontier Press of Texas, 1953. First Edition. Signed. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 117pp. Softcover. Good. Orange wraps; signed by author on front endpaper. Wraps have moderate soiling and light wear; text block has light soiling.
This publication concerns the life and death of one of the deadliest gunfighters in the West, William Preston Longley. 021070. $35
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Fort Concho and the Texas Frontier
Haley, J. Evetts
San Angelo, Texas, San Angelo Standard-Times, 1952. Large 8vo 9" -10" tall. 352pp. Hardcover. Very Good. Red cloth boards with black lettering; decorative endpapers; b&w illustrations. Rear board has impact mark on top edge, affecting pastedown.
From Jenkins: "This is one of the best books about any of the vital string of federal forts established in West Texas to tame the frontier." Jenkins Basic Texas Books 83. 021137. $45
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 Days That Are Done
Sanders, William Perry
Los Angeles, Grafton Publishing Corp., 1918. First Edition. 16mo. 134pp. Softcover. Good. Brown wraps with illustration of a buffalo on the front cover. Wraps have light wear to edges and minor dampstaining along spine; text block has minor soiling along fore edge, affecting the margins only.
A reminiscence on the western frontier, ranching, and buffalo hunting. Adams-Herd 2003. 021027. $75
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Cowboys and Cattleland
Halsell, H. H.
Nashville, Tenn., Parthenon Press, [1937]. First Edition. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 276pp. Hardcover. Very Good. Blue cloth with gilt illustration and white lettering; b&w plates; includes two prospectuses, laid in. Boards have minor impact mark on bottom edge; previous owner's name on front endpaper; text block has light toning.
This volume contains a history of the cattle business in Texas from the 1860s to the 1930s. 021168. $50
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Fall of the Alamo
Sutherland, John; Annie B. Sutherland (editor)
San Antonio, Texas, The Naylor Company, 1936. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 47pp. Softcover. Good. Tan wraps with brown lettering; b&w plates and illustrations. Wraps have minor creasing and soiling; previous owner's signature on front wrap and half title page; leaves are toned.
Sutherland's account was written
in 1860 and provides an "authentic account of that tragic event in the history of Texas compiled from facts known to the author and supported by evidence of others who were witnesses to the siege and fall of the Alamo together with a sketch of the life of the author by his grand-daughter Annie B. Sutherland" (title page). 021122. $175
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Adventures in the Santa Fe Trade, 1844-1847
Webb, James Josiah. Ralph P. Bieber (editor)
Glendale, California, The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1931. First Edition. Southwestern Historical Series, Volume I. Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall. 301pp. Very Good. Red cloth with gilt lettering on spine; top edge gilt; b&w plates and folding map. Boards have minor shelfwear; map has 1" tear where bound in.
"In the memoirs here published [James Josiah Webb] tells the story of his career as a Santa Fe Trader from 1844 through the early part of the Mexican war. He paints a faithful picture of life on the Old Santa Fe trail and in Mexico during a significant period in our westward expansion." Clark/Brunet 19. 021114. $68
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Comanche Barrier to South Plains Settlement: A Century and a Half of Savage Resistance to the Advancing White Frontier
Richardson, Rupert Norval
Glendale, The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1933. First Edition. Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall. 424pp. Hardcover. Very Good. Blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine; b&w plates. Boards have light shelfwear; moderate rust residue on front endpaper.
From Clark/Brunet: "A classic account of the conflict on the southern Plains between white encroachment and Comanche resistance. It is recounted in a scholarly manner, and the book has long been considered a classic in frontier literature."Clark/Brunet 207. 021132. $325
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Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains
Irving, Washington
Two volume set. Philadelphia, Carey, Lea & Blanchard, 1836. "First Edition, Second Setting. 8vo. [3]-285pp; [iii]-279pp. Hardcover. Good. Brown cloth boards with title gilt on spine; collated and complete with folded map titled "Sketch of the Routes of Hunt & Stuart." Boards have moderate soiling and chipping on spine; previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown of both volumes; text blocks have moderate foxing throughout.
This is the "second setting" of the first edition. According to Wagner-Camp the first setting of the first edition has a copyright notice on verso of the title page and a footnote on page 239; this copy has neither. This publication contains "a lengthy history of John Jacob Astor's venture into the fur trade on the Pacific Coast [and] is based in part on a revised transcript of the journal of Robert Stuart and the journals of Wilson Price Hunt and Ramsey Crooks, which were for a time in the possession of Astor" (Wagner-Camp). Sabin 35129. Howes I-81. Wagner-Camp 61:1. BAL 10148. 021008. $150
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 Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the Years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814 or the First American Settlement on the Pacific
Franchere, Gabriel
New York, Redfield, 1854. Second Edition. 12mo 7" - 7 ½" tall. 376pp. Hardcover. Very Good. Green cloth boards; includes 3 plates as called for. Boards have minor chipping to spine; moderate foxing to plates.
This is the first English translation of this volume and includes an added chapter and appendix. It is, according to Howes, "the most important source on the Astor adventure." This refers to the merchant John Jacob Astor who founded the American Fur Company in 1808, and who "Astoria," Oregon is named for. Howes F-310. 021089. $95
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Adventures on the Columbia River, Including the Narrative of a Residence of Six Years on the Western Side of the Rocky Mountains, Among Various Tribes of Indians Hitherto Unknown: Together with a Journey Across the American Continent
Cox, Ross
 New York, J. & J. Harper, 1832. First American Edition. 8vo. 335pp. Hardcover. Good. Full leather binding with title gilt on spine; a contemporary library bookplate is tipped in on front pastedown reading "The Property of the Canterbury Social Library." Boards have moderate wear to all edges, minor chipping at spine, a clean cut is made across the width of the rear board; text block has moderate toning, soiling and foxing throughout, and several leaves have tears.
Cox arrived in Oregon in May of 1812 where he worked for the North West Company for 5 years. In April of 1817 "he left for Montreal in a party of eighty-six persons. The party ascended the Columbia, crossed the Rockies to the Athabasca River and Rocky Mountain House. Cox met Peter Skene Ogden at Fort Ile de la Crosse and eventually arrived at Fort William on August 14, by way of Cumberland House and the Winnipeg River. His book described the rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company as well as the Indian tribes along the Columbia" (Wagner-Camp). Howes C-822. Sabin 17267. Wagner-Camp 43:2. 021006. $500
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 James Clyman - Frontiersman - The Adventures of a Trapper and Covered Wagon Emigrant as Told in His Own Reminiscences and Diaries
[Clyman, James]; Charles L. Camp (editor)
Portland, Oregon, Champoeg Press, [1960]. 1/1450 copies. 4to 11" - 13" tall. 352pp. Hardcover. Very Good. Red cloth boards with gilt lettering; fore edge deckled. Boards have light shelfwear.
This is "one of the most trustworthy narratives of the far west, for the period of 1842-6; the only Oregon overland journal of 1844" Howes C-81. 021155. $35
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Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America, 1766, 1767, and 1768
Carver, J.
L
ondon, Printed for the Author, 1778. First Edition. 8vo. 543pp. Hardcover. Good. Rebacked quarter leather; illustrated with copper plates; both maps are in facsimile at front of volume; errata and directions for placing the plates are found on last leaf. Original paper boards have heavy wear and chipping to edges; contemporary library bookplate on front pastedown; text block has light to moderate foxing.
"Carver penetrated farther into the west than any other explorer before the Revolution. Like his French predecessor - Verendrye - he was seeking a transcontinental waterway, but, aside from exploring some of the tributaries of the Mississippi, he made no substantial contributions to geographical knowledge; his book however, stimulated curiosity concerning routes to the Pacific, later satisfied by Mackenzie and Lewis and Clark" (Howes). Howes C-215. 021017. $950
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Bolton, Herbert Eugene. Athanase De Mézières and the Louisiana-Texas Frontier 1768-1780 - Documents Published for the First Time, From the Original Spanish and French Manuscripts, Chiefly in the Archives of Mexico and Spain; Translated into English; Edited and Annotated, by Herbert Eugene Bolton, Ph.D. [Volumes I and II]
 Two volume set. Cleveland, The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1914. First Edition. Large 8vo 9"-10" tall. [7]-351pp; [5]-392pp. Hardcover. Good. Spain in the West Series, Volumes 1 and 2. Crimson cloth boards with top edge gilt and other edges deckled; ex-library copy with library stamp on title pages. Includes "Map of Texas in the Eighteenth Century" in Volume I; map is detached from binding but otherwise fine. Boards have moderate wear and soiling; library catalog number written in ink on spine.
From Clark and Brunet, "These were the first two volumes of a projected multi-volume series on the Spanish Borderlands history to be prepared and edited by Bolton...there was considerable friction between the publisher and editor, and Bolton's work on the series stopped after the two-volume work on Kino was published in 1919. In spite of the difficulties between the two parties, both sets were highly acclaimed by the historical community." These volumes contain the translated writings by or about Athanase de Mézières, for years the foremost Indian agent and diplomat of the Louisiana-Texas frontier. Howes B584. Jenkins Best Texas 41. Clark/Brunet 23. 021030. $150
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Brief Sketch of the Life of a Confederate Soldier and the Ups and Downs During Pioneer and Indian Warfare in Texas [cover title]
Nickelson, B. C.
No publication information; copyright date is 1928 but portrait of author is dated to 1933. 12mo 7" - 7 ½" tall. 16pp. Pamphlet. Good. Grey wraps with black lettering; frontis portrait. Wraps have moderate toning and creasing; text block has light creasing.
B.C. Nickelson writes that he served in the "28th Missouri Cavalry" during the Civil War and saw action at Wilson's Creek, Antioch Church, Fayetteville, Devil's Backbone, Fort Smith, Shiloh and Franklin. He also fought in the Mexican-American War under Winfield Scott, Sam Houston and others. 021107. $95
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Bright Side of Prison Life - Experiences, In Prison and Out, of an Involuntary Sojourner in Rebeldom
Swiggett, S. A.
Baltimore, Press of Fleet, McGinley & Co., [1897]. First Edition. 12mo 7" - 7 ½" tall. 254pp. Hardcover. Good. Maroon cloth, rebacked with original spine affixed to newer one; b&w plates. Boards have light scratching and wear; gutters are reinforced with book tape.
Reminiscences of a Union soldier of life at rebel prisons. Swiggett was in the 36th Iowa Infantry, Company B and was sent to Camp Ford near Tyler, Texas, the largest Confederate-run prison west of the Mississippi. This volume also contains brief sketches of Swiggett's companions. 021149. $55
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Texas Ranger and Frontiersman - The Days of Buck Barry in Texas, 1845-1906
[Barry, James Buckner]; James K. Greer (editor)
Dallas, Texas, The Southwest Press, 1932. First Edition. Signed by Editor. Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall. 254pp. Hardcover. Very Good. Black cloth with gilt lettering on spine; b&w illustrations and plates; signed by editor on title page. Boards have moderate sunning to spine and light wear; previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown; spine is slightly cocked.
This volume contains the reminiscences of James "Buck" Barry, a Texas Ranger, sheriff, frontiersman, stock farmer, and Confederate soldier. 021135. $300
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Reminiscences of the Civil War
Stevens, Jno. W.
Hillsboro, Texas, Hillsboro Mirror Print, 1902. First Edition. Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall. 213pp. Hardcover. Good. Original light blue cloth, gilt lettering; housed in a modern clamshell box. Boards have modern soiling and shelfwear, and ½" hole on spine; spine slightly shaken, front gutter cracked; pastedowns and endpapers have moderate toning and soiling.
John Stevens wrote one of the best first hand accounts of service as a soldier in Hood's Texas Brigade written almost 40 years after the Civil War. Howes S-970. 021124. $650
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My Experience in the Confederate Army and in Northern Prisons
King, John R.
Clarksburg, W. Va., United Daughters of the Confederacy, [1917]. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 52pp. Softcover. Very Good. Grey wraps with illustration of flags tipped onto front wrap; includes frontis portrait. Wraps have light toning to edges, else very good.
King was in the service of the Upshur Gray Company, or Company B of the 25th Virginia Infantry Regiment, Army of Northern Virginia. The 25th took part in nearly all of the major actions of the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee, including 2nd Manassas/Bull Run, Sharpsburg/Antietam, and Fredericksburg. In 1864, the 25th Virginia participated in the Wilderness and Spotsylvania battles, with most of the regiment taken prisoner in the disastrous defeat. King was sent to Point Lookout and Elmira prisons. 021119. $175
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Aide-de-Camp of Lee - Being the Papers of Colonel Charles Marshall Sometime Aide-de-Camp, Military Secretary, and Assistant Adjutant General on the Staff of Robert E. Lee, 1862-1865
Marshall, Charles; Frederick Maurice (editor)
Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1927. First Edition. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 287pp. Hardcover. Good. Blue cloth, gilt lettering; includes b&w portraits. Boards have minor impact mark on top edge; pages 277-282 have been torn and missing pieces along fore edge, not affecting content.
Marshall is able to give us a very complete picture of the political difficulties, jealousies, and interests of Lee and is "a story full of valuable lessons for governments, soldiers, and people." 021130. $35
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Soldier's Letters to Charming Nellie
Polley, J.B.
 New York and Washington, The Neale Publishing Company, 1908. First Edition. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 317pp. Hardcover. Good. Red cloth with gilt lettering; top edge gilt; includes frontis portrait and plates. Boards have slight wave in cloth and all edges have moderate wear; front gutter has been repaired; moderate chipping on fore edge; text block has moderate soiling and some leaves have been repaired; previous owner's signature on front pastedown and endpaper.
Polley gives a firsthand account of life with John Bell Hood's Texas Brigade in the form of letters to Nellie, Polley's friend (she later became his wife). "Doubts have been raised as to whether these letters were actually written during the war or composed later" (Jenkins 165). Nevertheless, the account is a valuable source. Polley participated in the Battles of Seven Pines, Gaines' Mill, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, and the Wilderness Campaign. 021125. $195
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Swisher Memoirs, The
Swisher, John M., Col.; Rena Maverick Green (editor)
[1932]. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 63pp. Softcover. Very Good. Green wraps; b&w illustrations. Wraps have moderate soiling, else very good.
One of the most important reminiscences of early Texas, the Texas Revolution, Davy Crockett, and the battle of San Jacinto. 021121. $100
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