CAMELS IN THE WEST
59. [CAMELS]. Lot of 9 titles:
BONSAL, Stephen. Edward Fitzgerald Beale. A
Pioneer in the Path of Empire. New York: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1912. xii [1] 312 pp., frontispiece,
illustrations. 8vo, original dark blue cloth with gilt
title on spine. Slight wear else a near fine copy.
Presentation inscribed by Beale’s son, Truxtun Beale,
on front pastedown.
First
edition. Adams, Guns 237: "Contains some
material on Joaquin Murieta and Three-fingered Jack Garcia.
Bonsal says that the head of Murieta and the hand of
Three-fingered Jack were brought to his camp ‘but a
few hours after these scoundrels were shot.’" Connor
& Faulk, North America Divided 497. Cowan, p.
62. Flake 591. Howes B608. Tutorow 3748. Pingenot: Beale
was an officer under Commodore Stockton and fought with the
army at San Pasqual with Kit Carson; he carried to Stockton
at San Diego the news of General Kearny’s desperate
situation. Beale also carried the first gold east; later
became a noted explorer, surveyor, and builder of roads.
This work also contains a narrative of Beale’s trip
across the plains in 1853 and his Camel Corp expedition
from Texas to California in 1857.
Camels in Texas [cover title]. [San Jacinto Monument: San Jacinto Museum of History Association, 1956]. 12 pp., illustrations. Oblong 8vo, original stiff pictorial wrappers. Very fine.
DAVIS, Jefferson. Report of the Secretary of
War...Respecting the Purchase of Camels for the Purpose of
Military Transportation. Washington: HRED62, 1857. 238
pp., numerous plates, folding diagram. 8vo, original
embossed cloth, gilt lettering on spine. Very good to
fine.
First
edition. Graff 4436. Plains & Rockies
III:297n: "The first official camel report...containing
letters from members of the two parties sent to the Near
East to purchase camels, and drawing by G. H. Heap."
Pingenot: Chronicles one of the more unusual chapters of
western history—the introduction of camels as
pack-train animals in Texas and the Southwest. See
The Handbook of Texas Online (Camels).
ECHOLS, William H. [Camel Report]. N.p., n.d. 47, 11, 2 leaves. 4to, stiff wrappers. Mimeographed typescript of the report of William H. Echols of the Topographical Engineers, transcribed from the Senate Report, 36th Congress 2nd Session (1860).
EMMETT, Chris. Texas Camel Tales.... San
Antonio, 1932. xv, 275 pp., frontispiece portrait,
illustrations. 8vo, fuzzy gray cloth simulating camel hide.
Very good to fine. Printed list of limited edition
subscribers laid in. Signed by the author.
First
edition, limited edition (300 copies). Agatha,
p. 65. Basic Texas Books 55: "The best account of
the famous camel experiment in Texas, this is also a
successful blend of the numerous official records with
memoirs and anecdotes of the people involved." Campbell, p.
172. Rader 1305.
LESLEY, Lewis B. (editor). Uncle Sam’s
Camels: The Journal of May Humphreys Stacey Supplemented by
the Report of Edward Fitzgerald Beale (1857-58).
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1929. 298 pp.,
frontispiece, portraits, illustrations, folding map at
rear. 8vo, original cloth in a fine d.j.
First
edition. Pingenot: Journal of 19-year-old May
Humphreys Stacey, who accompanied Lieut. Edward F. Beale on
the camel expedition of 1857. Published for the first time,
Stacey’s journal, written during the experience,
stands as a vivid testament of adventure for a brave youth.
Supplemented by Beale’s report, this work represents a
major contribution to the story of the army’s use of
camels in the Southwest.
PERRINE, Fred S. "Uncle Sam’s Camel Corps." Pp. 434-444 in: New Mexico Historical Review (October 1926). [Albuquerque]. Reprint.
SCOBEE, Barry. Old Fort Davis. San Antonio:
Naylor, 1947. ix [1] 101 pp., illustrations, map. 8vo,
cloth. Fine copy in a fine pictorial d.j.
First
edition. Adams, Guns 1965; Herd 2025. The
author’s first book on this historic west Texas
frontier fort.
UNITED STATES. PRESIDENT (James B. Buchanan).
Message from the President of the United States...35th
Congress, 2nd Session.... Volume II. Washington: James
B. Steedman, Printer, HRED2, 1858. 670 pp. 8vo, original
cloth, gilt title on spine. Considerable wear.
Good.
Edwin
DeLeon’s report on the dromedary: pp. 454-491.
(9 vols.)
($600-900)