A Visit to Texas: Being the Journal of a Traveller through those Parts Most Interesting to American Settlers....
Unknown, New York, 1834
New York: Goodrich & Wiley, 1834, 264 pp., First edition. 4 copper-engraved plates by J. T. Hammond (Mr. Neil's Estate near Brazoria; Lazzoing a Horse on the Prairie; Road Through a Cane Break; Shooting the Deer on the Prairie), folding engraved map by W. Hooker with original extensive shading and outlining in color: Map of the State of Coahuila and Texas W. Hooker Sculpt. (26 x 33.5 cm; 10-3/8 x 13-1/8 inches; scale: 1 inch = approximately 90 miles). 16mo, modern full brown leather, gilt-lettered red calf spine label. New endpapers, terminal leaves and map reinserted on acid-free Japanese paper stubs, mild to moderate foxing to text (not affecting plate images or map, which are fine. The map has a neat repair at juncture of map and book block. Fresh, strong coloring to the rare Hooker map, which is on thick paper rather than onionskin. Contemporary ink ownership signature of Joshua G. Smith on title page and a few contemporary pencil notes at end (figures computing mileage, on a page relating to distances across Texas). One of the Alamo defenders was a Joshua G. Smith. See The Handbook of Texas Online (Joshua G. Smith). This inscription needs research.
This book appeared for the first time in print in 1834, only one year after Mary Austin Holley's first book. No one is certain who wrote this important Texas book, however, it has been attributed to an M. Fiske, a Col. Morris, or Asahel Langworthy (see Streeter 1130) for many years. The author had purchased land scrip from the infamous Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company prior to his visit in 1831. His stay in Texas included an illness, but he was attracted to the rural scene that was much of the environs of Texas at that time. After he inspected his "property", he left Texas knowing that he had been cheated, that the Company could not convey land to him, and he vigorously attacks the Company in several places in the book.
The excellent map "Map of the State of Coahuila and Texas" also appeared in Mrs. Holley's 1833 book, "A Visit to Texas". Hooker's map is based on Stephen F. Austin's great map but in smaller format.
Book References: A Catalogue of the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana, #1336, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1968; U.S. Iana (1650-1950), T145, Howes, Wright, R.R. Bowker Company, New York, 1962; Bibliography of Texas, 1155, Streeter, Thomas W., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1960.
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Texas
Mary Austin Holley, Lexington, 1836
J. Clarke & Co., Lexington, 1836. First Edition. 12mo. Folding engraved map of Texas and Coahuila (272 x 342mm) by William Hooker. (Map with some minor splits along crease lines, the text with occasional scattered foxing). Original brown cloth backed with later dark brown leather along spine. Title page repaired on verso to fill a void of about 1-1/2 x 1 inches.
Mrs. Holley was a cousin of Stephen F. Austin, to whom the work is dedicated. Holley traveled to Texas to aid her brother Henry, who was settling in Bolivar, and was delighted with all she saw and experienced.
This is Mrs. Holley's second book on Texas, intended as a practical and informative guide for emigrants to the area. Included is a general history of Texas, a printing of the Texas and Mexican constitutions, Stephens Austin's farewell address of March 7, and specific information regarding settlements, towns, business and banking matters, transportation and communications facilities, etc. While her earlier book served to promote the enthusiastic interest of prospective emigrants to Texas, in this work, Mrs. Holley provides the hard facts of what they would find there.
The Hooker "Map of the State of Coahuila and Texas" also appeared in Mrs. Holley's 1833 book, "A Visit to Texas".
Book References: A Catalogue of the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana, #1934, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1968; U.S. Iana (1650-1950), H593, Howes, Wright, R.R. Bowker Company, New York, 1962; Basic Texas Books, #93, Jenkins, John, Texas State Historical Association, Austin, 1983; Bibliography of Texas, 1135, Streeter, Thomas W., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1960
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History of the Revolution in Texas, Particularly of the War of 1835 & '36; Together with the Latest Geographical, Topographical, and Statistical Accounts of the Country....
Chester Newell, New York, 1836
New York: Wiley & Putnam, 1838, 215 pp., folding map of Texas was lithographed by Baker & Hall, New York. 12mo, modern leather boards. Internally fine. The rare and early map of Republic Texas has minor splitting along interior fold.
Newell was a minister of the Gospel who came to Texas in the early spring of 1837 seeking his health, and decided while there to write a history of the Texas Revolution to defray his expenses.
First edition, with dedication leaf on page [iii] and the map undated, points which Streeter recognizes without establishing any priority of issue. Basic Texas Books 151A: "One of the earliest books published about Texas after it became a Republic.... The quotations from participants are of considerable value. The descriptive portions add much to our knowledge of the early Republic.... The account is pro-Texan throughout, but more objective than many other contemporary Anglo-American versions.... Newell describes the towns of the Republic, offers advice to immigrants, analyzes the people of Texas, and projects the future. His predictions, some sage and some ludicrous, are remarkable."
Book References: A Catalogue of the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana, #3010, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1968; U.S. Iana (1650-1950), N115, Howes, Wright, R.R. Bowker Company, New York, 1962; Basic Texas Books, #151A, Jenkins, John, Texas State Historical Association, Austin, 1983; Bibliography of Texas, 1318, Streeter, Thomas W., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1960
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The Texan Emigrant: Being a Narration of the Adventures of the Author in Texas, and a Description of the Soil, Climate, Productions, Minerals, Towns, Bays, Harbors, Rivers, Institutions, and Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants of that Country; Together with the Principal Incidents of Fifteen Years Revolution in Mexico; and Embracing a Condensed Statement of Interesting Events in Texas, from the First European Settlement in 1692, down to the Year 1840.
Col. Edward Stiff, Cincinnati, 1840
Cincinnati: George Conclin, 1840, 367 pp., 2 full-page primitive but early wood-engraved illustrations of Texas by John H. Lovejoy: [1] View of Galveston City and Bay (at p. 151; image: 7.8 x 11.6 cm, shows Texas flag flying and steamship plying the waters); and [2] Battle of San Jacinto (at p. 319; image: 7.8 x 11.5 cm); plus engraved folded map on bank note paper with original outline coloring of boundaries of impresario grants: Texas. Cincinnati Published by George Conclin [lower right] Doolittle & Munson Engravers. Cincinnati, neat line to neat line: 23.5 x 29 cm; overall sheet size: 26.5 x 31 cm. 12mo (20 x 12.7 cm). Rebacked original leather boards, spine with gilt ruling and black leather label lettered in gilt: Texan Emigrant. Offsetting from map to title, scattered light foxing to text, overall the book is excellent. The map has a few minor short splits, right border to neat line is ragged (no losses to map and very slight to the border). Map borders outside of neat line have been professionally backed.
First edition. The book was extremely popular, but the map was omitted from subsequent editions which were expanded to include material on the Mexican-American War. By 1849, at least seven editions of this book had appeared. This is one of the best books on Texas issued during the Republic era and is very scarce.
The handsome and rare Texas map appears to be based partially on Hooker, but with less detail. Stiff does not give the source of the map, although he refers to it several times in the book (pp. 32, 119, 148, 198). The map is divided into the various impresario grants. Place locations include Austin, Fort Alamo, San Jacinto battleground, Stephen F. Austin’s colonies, Stiff’s Prairie, Peak of Otter, Salt Springs, etc. Texas is shown in its small, early Republic configuration, without the Panhandle and with the Nueces River as the southwestern boundary.
Book References: Bibliography of Texas, 1367, Streeter, Thomas W., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1960; Basic Texas Books, 199, Jenkins, John, Texas State Historical Association, Austin, 1983
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The History of Texas; or, the Emigrant's, Farmer's, and Politician's Guide to the Character, Climate, Soil, and Productions of That Country; Geographically Arranged from Personal Observation and Experience
David B. Edward, Cincinnati, 1836
J.A. James & Co., Cincinatti, Ohio, 1836. 336 pp., 12mo, modern leather boards. iinternally excellent. 1st Edition, 1 volume, very occaisional foxing throughout, the bindings tight.
The colored map is Texas of 1836, engraved by E.F. Lee. It is detached from the book.
David Edward immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1819. Sometime after 1830, he moved his entire family to the Gonzales area in the DeWitt colony of Texas, taking advantage of the Mexican immigration rewards. While living there, he authored this book, claiming to be an objective review of Texas. He plagiarized elements of Mary Austin Holly’s Texas that had been published in 1833, and used many other sources without crediting the authors. The book was considered very anti-Texan and pro-Mexican, and Edward became the subject of heated criticism as it offended almost everyone, especially when he suggested that the defenders of the Alamo and the martyrs of Goliad had been driven by the "wrong motives". Edwards’ praise of "enlightened" Mexican immigration policies was considered extremely insulting to most Texians.
Book References: U.S. Iana (1650-1950), E48, Howes, Wright, R.R. Bowker Company, New York, 1962
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History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi, By the Three Great European powers, Spain, France, and Great Britain, and the Subsequent Occupation, Settlement, and Extension of Civil Government.
John W. Monette, New York, 1848
Harper & Brothers, New York, New York, U.S.A., 1848. Three-Quarter Leather. Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. Leatherbound edition, 2 volumes, Vol. 1: 1848. Vol. 2: 1846. Leather spines are worn, front board of both volumes are split at the spine and nearly detached. The pages are clean and the bindings tight.
The colored map at the beginning of Volume I is "Map of the French, English, & Spanish Possessions in North America in 1745", engraved by W. Kemble. The colored map at the beginning of Volume II is "Texas in 1836", also engraved by W. Kemble. Both maps have been separated from their volumes.
This book documents a detailed history of Mississippi Valley settlements and the battles fought by the settlers to claim it. The final chapter concerns the re-annexation of Texas.
John W. Monette was born in Ohio, on April 3, 1803. He graduated from a Kentucky medical college in 1822. was a mayor of Washington, Mississippi and a member of the legislature. He died in Madison parish, Louisiana, March, 1851.
Book References: U.S. Iana (1650-1950), M722, Howes, Wright, R.R. Bowker Company, New York, 1962
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