When you visit New York City one place worth a visit is the Grolier Club.

The object of the Grolier Club (to quote from its Constitution) is “to foster the study, collecting, and appreciation of books and works on paper, their art, history, production, and commerce. It shall pursue this mission through the maintenance of a library devoted to all aspects of the book and graphic arts and especially bibliography; through the occasional publication of books designed to illustrate, promote and encourage the book and graphic arts; through exhibitions and educational programs for its members and the general public; and through the maintenance of a Club building for the safekeeping of its property, and otherwise suitable for the purposes of the Club.”

Its book exhibitions make it a great stop.

Here are some pictures from our visit in 2010.

Currently it features Gardening Books and Count Guglielmo Libri, who if like me you don’t know , was a mathematician, Book Collector, Antiquarian Bookseller, Bibliographer and a forger and book thief! Sounds like it is worth seeing.

This plain little booklet is a rare item regarding North Dakota cattle raising. One of the Merrill Aristocrats. Rated by some as the hardest of the Aristocrats to find. If you see one grab it!

Here is my description of it:

Warren, C. H. Mouse River Cattle Raising. Chicago: Poole Bros. Printing for the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Co. N.d. (Circa 1886). Yellow wraps. Map of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway on the rear wrapper. 12 pp.
Herd 1683: “Scarce.” A Merrill Aristocrat. World Cat lists eight copies. “Deals with the pioneer history and conditions of the cattle industry in the Red River and Mouse River regions of North Dakota from 1870.” — Adams. Cover title: “Mouse River North Dakota.” Adams dates it to 1885, but the text refers to a report on the public lands in 1886. “An excessively rare item. … one of the hardest of all Merrill Aristocrats to locate.” — Swinford. Provides detailed advice to the prospective emigrant on “Mouse River Cattle Raising” and “How to get a Free Farm in North Dakota,” as well as statistical information on population, resources, climate, railroads, the melting away of public lands, etc. The Mouse River region is in the north-central part of North Dakota, and this pamphlet was likely partly financed by the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway, which had just completed a rail line into that area. A frank but enthusiastic discussion, culled from a variety of western newspapers, of the economic prospects and suitability for cattle raising, of the Mouse River region and North Dakota in general. The author writes: “Cattle-raising has passed the experimental stage in the Mouse river country and, for that matter, all through North Dakota. It would seem almost incredible to stockmen in the ‘corn belt’ to be told that cattle and horses are grown and fattened on the Mouse river on hay alone, but such is the fact.” “An extremely rare North Dakota promotional pamphlet, and rarity of the cattle industry in North Dakota, this is only the second copy we have handled in twenty-five years.” — Reese.

The artist W. H. D. Koerner illustrated many book and magazine articles.

Here is one of his illustrations for Zane Grey’s book Sunset Pass.

And here is the original painting.

Houston is a good place to work and to enjoy our great selection of places to eat out. But, this time of year it is so hot as to make even the natives want to get out of town.

So hopefully we will get some cooler weather when we are in Brimfield and Cape Cod.

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Austin Bookshow was well attended even if some of us new sellers were back in the back.


Rocco like to help me get ready!

Sam Houston and the Eclipse Mare

Eclipse was a famous English thoroughbred racehorse.  After his racing career he was a sought after stud, siring 344 winners. He was named Eclipse because he was foaled during the solar eclipse of April 1, 1764.

This document is an interesting Texas connection. It is a receipt for the sale of a mare said to be in the Eclipse line. Signed with Sam Houston’s bold “I Am Houston” signature. A great display piece.

As a collector I dealt with book dealers of all types. Several of them have been instrumental to my development as a book person, sharing their knowledge and expertise. J. Frank Dobie, who always denied he was a book collector (since he acquired his books to conduct research for his writing, rather than as objects, as it were) captured this idea more eloquently than I can in his essay “The First Bookseller to Enrich My Life.” (about Elijah Leroy Shettles)

Al Lowman, another great Bookman, played on this Dobie essay when writing about Frank’s cousin Dudley in his piece “Remembering Dudley Dobie: The first bookseller to enrich my life and empty my pockets.”  That title alone made me smile. What a satisfying feeling to have empty pockets as a result of getting a bunch of treasured books!

The late, great Ray Walton was the first bookseller with whom I developed a serious relationship.  We met at a book show in Houston when I bought a New Mexico book and took his card. (Remember the huge book shows in Houston, when you needed six hours to see all their booths? )

He had a Dobie pamphlet in his booth that I did not buy, and of course had non-buyers remorse after the show.  So I got really brave and called Ray to arrange to come and see him when I was in Austin. He had spread out for me not only the one Dobie item I was looking for, but a wealth of treasures I had only dreamed of ever seeing.  The start of a beautiful friendship.

One of my favorite authors and personalities is J. Frank Dobie. So I will be posting about him from time to time. Born in 1888 in South Texas he did not always conform to modern politically correct ideas. But for his time he was quite progressive, so much so that he often got into disputes with the conservative powers that ran Texas and UT.

For a number of years he taught a course at the University of Texas called Life and Literature of the Southwest. When other English professors sniffed that there was no literature in the Southwest, he replied that there sure as heck was life.

Dobie is also known for his bibliography of southwestern books Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest. One thing most of the books Dobie liked had in common was that they were bursting with life. If Dobie recommended a book you can be sure it will be a good read, and not dry and academic.