Item 129 is Gerald Carson's 1960 biography, The Roguish World of Dr. Brinkley. John R. Brinkley had obtained a degree from the Eclectic Medical College of Kansas City, which enabled him to practice medicine in the state. It was here that he came up with his precursor to Viagara, surgically implanting part of a goat's gonads inside the patient. Hope springs eternal, so Brinkley built up a successful practice, starting one of Kansas' first radio stations to promote his practice. Eventually, he lost both his radio and medical licenses. So, Brinkley up and moved to the border town of Del Rio, Texas, securing the rights to broadcast from a radio transmitter on the Mexican side. Not being subject to U.S. broadcasting regulations, he obtained an extraordinarily powerful transmitter from which he could reach all 50 states. He became quite wealthy, promoting his quack medicine along with lots of other religious and similarly enticing items. In time, he lost the license to his radio station, XERA, became ill, ran into trouble with the IRS, and died broke ten years after he launched his "border blaster" radio station. However, it would give rise to many imitators, including XERF, run from Brinkley's old studios, which launched the career of "The Wolfman" (or "Wolfman Jack") of American Graffiti fame. $35.

Item 211 recounts, complete with photographs, the worst hurricane to hit America, The Story of The Galveston Flood, edited by Nathan Green. Published shortly after the 1900 hurricane, the storm was generally referred to as a flood at the time because it completely submerged Galveston Island. An estimated 8,000 people lost their lives in the storm. $85.

An even earlier hurricane is described in this one-page "Extra" of the Nueces Valley Newspaper: Corpus Christi Hurricane -- September 5, 1874. Little other information is available about this hurricane or others going back this far. Item 143. $200.

You may contact Maggie Lambeth Rare Books of Blanco, Texas, at 830-833-5252, or visit them online at www.texanbooks.com.