12. BROOKS, Bryant B[utler]. Memoirs of Bryant B. Brooks, Cowboy, Trapper, Lumberman, Stockman, Oilman, Banker, and Governor of Wyoming. Glendale: [Privately printed for the author by] The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1939. 370 pp. (including frontispiece, full-page text illustrations, mostly photographic portraits). 8vo, original brown cloth, t.e.g., genealogical charts on endpapers. Two pages slightly browned due to an old newspaper being laid in, otherwise very fine. Author’s signed presentation copy: “Casper Dec. 1940 To Al Spaugh Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Sincerely, B. B. Brooks.”

     First edition, limited edition (Adams incorrectly states limitation as 150 copies; Clark & Brunet state 250 copies). Adams, Herd 332: “Very scarce.” Clark & Brunet 29: “Though the original prospectus indicated 250 copies for sale, only 88 copies of the book were sold by the publisher. The balance of the edition was delivered over time to Brooks for his distribution.” Dobie, p. 98:  “It was merely printed to satisfy the senescent vanity of a property-worshipping, cliché-parroting reactionary who made money ranching before he became governor of Wyoming.” Howes B814. Malone, Wyomingana, p. 14: “Life story of a pioneer in the vicinity of Casper, hence valuable picture of life and history of that section from 1861 to 1939.”

     Part 2, the author’s autobiography includes chapters “Cowboy in the Rockies,” “Starting a Cattle Ranch,” “The V-V [Ranch] Grows,” The Sheep Arrive,” and “My Ranches Today,” in addition to much on his political career, involvement in other enterprises such as mining, logging, and banking, and discussion of issues involved with public lands and water resources. ($150-300)

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