52. BROWNE, John Ross. Adventures in the Apache
Country: A Tour Through Arizona and Sonora.... New
York: Harper & Brothers, 1869. 535 [1, blank] [4 pp.,
ads] pp., 155 spirited woodcut illustrations by author.
12mo, original brown cloth with gilt lettering on spine.
Fine copy, with an 1868 gift inscription.
First
edition. Eberstadt 120:24: "No other work gives so
vivid or such an accurate account of the country and of the
terrors which then attended border life in Arizona, where
one-twentieth of the population had been swept away by the
attacks of the Apaches in three years." Edwards, Desert
Voices, pp. 24-25. Farquahar 26. Field 197." Graff 437.
Howes B875 (aa). Munk (Alliott), p. 40 (listing the English
edition and a later New York edition). Paher 218: "Among
the all time great Nevada books." Rader 519. Browne, an
Irishman by birth, had a varied career as a traveler,
author, government servant (including a brief appointment
as Minister to China) and reporter. Brown had a keen sense
of humor as well as a sharp eye, and his narrative
descriptions and sketches of the Southwest provide an
invaluable historical record. Paher refers to the woodcuts
in this volume as ‘priceless,’ remarking further
that many of them are ‘the only representation of the
people and places ever made.’ Pingenot: Browne
accompanied Charles D. Poston on his tour as Indian agent.
The book contains a sketch of the Arizona career of
Sylvester Mowry; an account of S. F. Butterworth’s
adventures in Arizona; the Oatman captivity, etc. Very
scarce in nice collector’s condition.
($250-500)