LOT #60032 |
Sold on Dec 2, 2023 for: Sign-in
or Join (free & quick)
Albert Pike. Prose Sketches and Poems, Written in the Western Country....
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Sold on Dec 2, 2023 for:
$1,625.00
Bid Source: HA.com/Live bidder
Get one of these:
Explore Available Items
Description
Albert Pike. Prose Sketches and Poems, Written in the Western Country. Boston: Light & Horton, 1834.FIRST EDITION. 12mo. 200 pages. Publisher's patterned teal moire cloth, spine gilt-lettered .
The first published account of a journey in modern times across the Texas Panhandle. Streeter singles out this great rarity in his introduction as "desirable for a Texas collection." Early pages contain first-hand accounts of an overland journey west from Fort Towson, in what is now Oklahoma, across part of Texas by Aaron B. Lewis, one of Pike's friends, and of a journey east by Albert Pike, where Lewis was one of the party, from New Mexico to Fort Smith, Arkansas. The remaining pages include poems by Pike and three prose pieces relating to his experiences in New Mexico. The preface is dated "Ark. Territory, 1st May 1833." The account of the journey west by Lewis from Fort Towson on the Red River, which lasted from September through December 1831, is based in part on his recollections and in part on what appears to have been his journal. The account of Pike's trip east begins on page 36 with the heading, "Narrative of a Second Journey in [sic] the Prairie." This began on September 6, 1832, and ended at Fort Smith, Arkansas, on December 10.
Thomas W. Cutrer writes of the book: "While serving as associate editor of the Little Rock, Arkansas, Advocate in 1833, Pike wrote in travel narrative, short story, and verse of his recent adventures. These vivid memoirs, tales, and poems, which first appeared serially in the Advocate were published by Light and Horton of Boston in 1834 as Prose Sketches and Poems Written in the Western Country. Pike's narrative is said to be the first book ever printed dealing with the region between Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Certainly Pike was New Mexico's first Anglo-American poet as well as its first short story-writer in English and was among the first to describe in print the Mexican borderlands."
In addition to the recommendation in his introduction, Streeter writes, "This seems to be the first published account of a journey in modern times across the Texas Panhandle. It is an unusual book by an unusual man, who besides hunting for furs on the Plains, wrote poetry and was later a leading lawyer of the Southwest."
Condition: Blinding slightly worn, spine ends and extremities somewhat worn and with a few pale stains. Text block cracked between pages 92 and 93, endpapers foxed, light scattered foxing to the text.
Reference: BAL 16031; Clark III:88; Field 1219; Graff 3285; Howes P-365; Rader 2670; Rittenhouse 466; Sabin 62815; Streeter 1150; Wagner-Camp 50; TSHA Handbook of Texas.
Auction Info
2023 December 2 The Ted Lusher Texas History Collection, Part One Signature® Auction #6281 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2023
2nd
Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 4
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 221
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% on the first $300,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $300,000 and $3,000,000, plus 15% of any amount over $3,000,000 per lot.
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms