Rare Book Monthly
The Wild Southwest<br>From Almagre Books
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Florence Hayes Turner was the daughter of wealthy Easterners who purchased the 240,000 acre Trinchera Ranch in southern Colorado in 1913. How big is 240,000 acres? Rhode Island? Delaware? Ms. Turner retells their adventures as nouveau big-time cattle ranchers in Days of Elk and Buffalo: A Colorado Childhood. The ranch was sold in the 1920s and Turner’s book published in 1955 in London. Oddly, the book was never published in the U.S. Ms. Turner had moved to England where she died in 2001 at age 91. Item 128. $150.
Item 92 is Herbert Bolton’s Anza’s California Expeditions. This is an item of remarkable scholarly research of early California history, when the Spanish still ruled. The first of its five volumes covers Bolton’s research, while the remaining four include translations of the diaries of Anza and many other early visitors. Among the settlements described are the founding of Monterey and San Francisco. This book is one of the Zamorano 80 prized by California collectors. $750.
Here’s an item that’s a bit lighter than the last one: Burros: A Collection of Sixty-Four Cute, Curious and Interesting Burro Pictures. Who could resist 64 cute burros? Only someone very stubborn. This 1903 picture book is even die-cut in the shape of a burro’s head. The burro book was printed in Denver though most of the burros were residents of New Mexico. Item 102. $100.
Item 19 is a most thorough guide to Arizona, such as it was in 1884. Patrick Hamilton’s book title says it all: The Resources of Arizona. Its Minerals, Farming, Grazing and Timber Lands; Its History, Climate, Government, Prehistoric Ruins, Early Missionaries, Indian Tribes, Pioneer Days, Etc. If it isn’t mentioned specifically in the title, it’s probably covered in the “etc.” Anyone interested in pre-statehood Arizona should find this book interesting. This copy is described as of the “third (and best) edition.” $400.
Item 529 is a promotional piece for Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s called Santa Fe: The Gateway of the “Greatest Fifty Mile Square in America.” Includes “An Appreciation of New Mexico” by Zane Grey and numerous advertisements for local businesses. Obviously this promotional was very successful as in the years since it was published in 1915, Santa Fe has become one of the most desired and expensive pieces of real estate in the country. $125.
Do you collect books about the snakes of Costa Rica? No? Hey, it’s better than collecting the snakes themselves. Item 161 is Edward Drinker Cope’s The Batrachia and Reptilia of Costa Rica, printed thousands of miles safely away from the Costa Rican snakes in Philadelphia. Perhaps “Drinker” is a description of the man rather than a middle name. He may have needed to drink to cope with all those snakes. Cope didn’t limit his scholarship to snakes. He also studied frogs. He is still listed today on frogweb.org, a site about “Frogs of the Malay Peninsula.” Cope is a respected scholar in the field of creepy and crawly things and this 1877 work is one of several scientific books he produced. $250.
