2215. GRAY, W. H. A History of Oregon, 1792-1849, Drawn from
Personal Observation and Authentic Information.... Published by the Author
for Subscribers. Portland: Harris & Holman; San Francisco: H. H.
Bancroft & Co.; New York: American News Company, 1870. 624 pp., wood-engraved
frontispiece of Astoria in 1811. 8vo, contemporary three-quarter dark green
sheep over marbled boards, spine gilt with raised bands, marbled endpapers,
t.e.g.. Binding lightly rubbed (especially at corners), overall a fine copy,
with yellow errata slip after page 624.
First edition, first issue, with one errata slip. Bradford
1965. Braislin 487. Eberstadt, Modern Narratives of the Plains and the Rockies 194.
Graff 1630. Howell 32, Oregon 119. Howes G342: “Undependable and
biased, but, as the product of a pioneer of 1838, cannot be ignored.”
Mattes, Platte River Road Narratives 29: “Gray
was the ‘secular agent’ for the Oregon-bound party of Presbyterian
missionaries comprised of Marcus Whitman and H. H. Spalding, with their wives
Narcissa and Eliza, who were the ‘first white women to cross the continent.’....
At the annual trappers’ rendezvous on Green River the missionaries were
alarmed, but not harmed by the noisy antics of Indians and trappers.... With
nobility, white and dark ruffians, red savages, preachers, and refined white
women, this 1836 expedition was surely one of the strangest juxtapositions in
American history.” Norris 2940. Sabin 28416. Smith 3756. Tweney, Washington
89 #24.
Gray includes a chapter on the 1837 cattle drive from California
to Oregon, Hudson’s Bay cattle monopoly, and Jesse Applegate and other
early ranchers. $250.00
2216. GRAY, W. H. A History of Oregon.... Portland, Oregon:
Harris & Holman, etc. 1870. 624 pp., wood-engraved frontispiece of Astoria
in 1811. 8vo, original black textured cloth. Tips rubbed and spine ends lightly
chipped, cover lightly discolored, lower hinge a bit weak, otherwise a fine
copy, contemporary ink ownership inscription of D. R. Campbell of Astoria,
Oregon. Errata slip at page 624 removed.
First edition, issue undetermined, errors uncorrected.
Howes states the black cloth copies were second issue. $200.00
2217. [GRAZING RIGHTS]. How Not to Be Cowed. Livestock Grazing
on the Public Lands: An Owner’s Manual. [Salt Lake City: Natural
Resources Defense Council & Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, 1991].
[6] 70 pp. 8vo, original brown pictorial wrappers. Light wear, but generally
fine.
First edition. The first of a series of four manuals
intended to inform environmentalists and other users on the process by which
the Bureau of Land Management makes decisions on the use of public lands and
how to influence those decisions. This pamphlet covers the subject of the impact
posed by cattle grazing on public lands. $15.00
2218. GREATOREX, Eliza. Summer Etchings in Colorado. New
York: G. P. Putnam, [1873]. [2] 4 [3] 6-96 pp., 21 plates of Colorado scenery
after author’s etchings (including frontispiece), tissue guards. 4to,
original brown pebble cloth, upper cover with title in black and gilt pictorial
illustrations, bevelled edges, a.e.g. Binding slightly rubbed and worn, front
hinge starting, otherwise fine. Contemporary ink gift inscription to Mrs. J.
Milton Turner, October 5, 1875.
First edition. Henkle 1156. Wilcox, p. 51. Wynar 2039.
The author describes her excursion from Omaha to Colorado, where she spent the
summer interviewing pioneers and etching. She was one of the first artists to
paint in Colorado Springs. The last few chapters include information on ranching
in Colorado and the author’s visits to Thornton’s Ranch, Bergun Park,
and Col. Kittredge’s Ranch. Greatorex interviewed Holt, whose ranch in
Gunnison County was one of the largest ranches in the territory. Essayist and
poet Grace Greenwood (pseudonym of Sara Jane Lippincott) wrote the introduction.
Greatorex (1819-1897), an Irish native who moved to New York
in 1840, turned to supporting herself by teaching art and selling her own art
work, at which she was highly successful. Although she traveled widely in the
United States and Europe, this is apparently the product of her only trip to
the United States. See Notable American Women. $150.00
Item 2218
2219. GREATOREX, Eliza. Summer Etchings in Colorado. New York: G. P. Putnam, [1873]. Another copy, variant binding. 4to, original green pebble cloth, upper cover with title in black and gilt pictorial illustrations, bevelled edges, a.e.g. Cover lightly worn and stained, text lightly water-stained at lower blank margins, overall a good copy. Contemporary ownership signature of William Bremen dated at Greely, Colorado, in 1907. $75.00
Ben K. Green
“Ben King (Doc) Green (1912-1974), writer, rancher, and veterinarian,
son of David Hugh and Bird (King) Green, was born on March 5, 1912, in Cumby,
Hopkins County, Texas. He moved with his family to Weatherford and attended
high school there. He ran for a seat in the Texas legislature when he was about
twenty-three years old, led the ticket in the primary, but lost in the runoff.
As a boy Green fell in love with horses, and the love affair never ended. He
bred horses and lived the life of a cowboy for most of his life, although he
traveled widely outside Texas and the United States. At one time or another
he both claimed and denied that he attended Texas A&M, Cornell University,
and the Royal College of Veterinary Medicine in England, but most of his expert
knowledge about animals came from experience. He began writing rather late
in life, and it was a memorable moment when he met Alfred A. Knopf, the New
York publisher, and told the international sophisticate more than he wanted
to know about horses and cows and people. The result was that Knopf published Horse
Tradin’ (1967), Wild Cow Tales (1969), The Village Horse
Doctor (1971), and Some More Horse Tradin’ (1972), each a
strong seller. The books were immediately hailed by critics, and Horse Tradin’ has
been cited as a classic of Western Americana. In 1973 Green received the Writers
Award for contributions to Western literature from the Cowboy Hall of Fame
in Oklahoma City. He also received a career award from the Texas Institute
of Letters for his unique contribution to Texas literature.
“Green wrote all of his books the way he operated best.
He talked them, telling stories to a tape recorder and to his secretary. He wrote
from his own experiences as a rancher, horse and steer trader, wild horse hunter,
and horse doctor. He owned the only registered herd of Devon cattle in Texas
and supported it on his farm in Cumby, where he also raised Percheron and quarter
horses. He was in high demand on the lecture circuit.
“He published eleven books between 1967 and 1974. His
last, The Color of Horses (1974), was the product of his arduous research
through the years on the hide and hair of horses to determine what made color.
Although the book is controversial in content, Green considered it his most worthwhile
contribution, and he saw it come off the presses shortly before he died of heart
failure while sitting in his car on a roadside in northwest Kansas on October
5, 1974. Green was buried in a 100-square-foot knoll in the cemetery at Cumby.
He thus made good his oft-repeated saying, “`I never let myself be crowded
in life, and by God, ain’t nobody gonna close in on me when I’m dead!’”—Joe
B. Frantz (Handbook of Texas Online: Ben King Green)
2220. GREEN, Ben K. Ben Green Tales. Flagstaff: Northland
Press, 1974. [10] 57 + [6] 79 + [6] 59 + [6] 51 pp., text illustrations by
Joe Beeler, James Boren, John Hampton, and William Moyers. 4 vols., narrow
8vo, original green, yellow, blue, and orange cloth, gilt-lettered spines and
upper covers. Publisher’s black cloth slipcase with printed label. Mint,
signed by Green, Moyers, Hampton, and Boren.
First edition, limited edition (#598 of 1,250 sets
signed by author). Four tales by the great storyteller Ben Green. 1. When
I Was Just a Colt: Illustrated by William Moyers. 2. Up Fool’s Hill
Ahorseback: Illustrated by John Hampton. 3. Beauty: Illustrated by Joe
Beeler. 4. How Come I Wrote a Book: Illustrated by James Boren. Dykes, Fifty
Great Western Illustrators (Beeler 47). Wilson 22.
Rancher, writer, and erstwhile veterinarian Green in this
series of stories touches on several interesting incidents in his own life, including
his experiences with a schoolmate named Trouble and with his favorite horse named
Beauty, which often came to his rescue in various cowboy adventures. Volume 4,
however, is of more intellectual interest, in the history of Texas letters because
it covers Green’s famous on-air run-in with Barbara Walters over his reference
to Blacks. $500.00
Item 2220
2221. GREEN, Ben. Ben Green Tales. Flagstaff: Northland Press, 1974. Another set (#96 of 1,250 sets), not signed by Moyers, Hampton, and Boren. Very fine in publisher’s slipcase. $250.00
2222. GREEN, Ben K. The Color of Horses: The Scientific and
Authoritative Identification of the Color of the Horse. [Flagstaff]:
Northland Press, [1974]. vi [2] 127 pp., color illustrations by Darol Dickinson.
4to, original green cloth gilt lettered on spine and Green’s gilt logo
in gilt on upper right corner of upper cover. Fine copy in d.j. with two
tears (no losses) and light chipping to spine extremities. Carl Hertzog’s
copy with his bookplate.
First trade edition. Dykes, Western High Spots, p.
64 (“High Spots of Western Illustrating” #175): “A serious
study handsomely illustrated with thirty-four full-color plates by Darol Dickinson.” Wilson
24. The first definitive work on the identification and formation of horse color.
$300.00
2223. GREEN, Ben K. Horse Conformation as to Soundness-Performance-Ability, and Hoss
Trades of Yesteryear [cover title]. Cumby: Published by author, 1963.
[2] 141 pp., text illustrations (photographs and sketches). (No title page,
as issued.) 8vo, original black cloth. Very fine in d.j. Carl Hertzog’s
bookplate. Ink note on front flyleaf.
First edition of author’s first book. Wilson
3: “Green stored the unsold copies of his jewel in the chicken house of
his ‘batchin’ shack’ in Cumby, where, like the unsold copies
of The Tally Book, they lay watersoaked and moulding for several years.
Thus, copies in good to fine condition, with dust jackets, are very scarce.” This
book includes a collected edition of Green’s articles on the structure
and function of the horse. The articles were published serially in The Tally
Book from 1960-62. Also included is Hoss Trades.
A. C. Greene & His Library: “Some indication
of what Ben thought about his bibliographical future can be noted on the spine
of this little volume—which Ben presented to me with great assurances of
its present and future value. Even in 1963, before Horse Tradin’ had
made him famous, he had printed on the spine: `First edition.’” $600.00
2224. GREEN, Ben K. Horse Conformation. [Greenville: Published
by the author], 1969. 72 pp., numerous illustrations. 8vo, original white wrappers
printed in black and blue, reproduction of Tom Lea illustration on upper wrap
and photograph of Green on back wrap. Very fine. Signed by author and with
his manuscript corrections to illustration captions on p. 5.
First edition, wrappers issue. Wilson 9A. The articles
were published serially in The Tally Book from 1960-62. This edition does
not include Hoss Trades. $175.00
Item 2224
2225. GREEN, Ben K. Horse Conformation. [Greenville: Published
by the author], 1969 [i.e., 1972]. 74 pp., illustrations. 8vo, original grey
wrappers printed in black and blue, reproduction of Tom Lea illustration on
upper wrap and photograph of Green on back wrap. Very fine. Carl Hertzog’s
copy, with his bookplate.
Third printing, with a few corrections and an added leaf end.
Wilson 9B. $40.00
2226. GREEN, Ben K. Horse Tradin’. New York: Knopf,
1967. xiv, 304 [2] pp., frontispiece and illustrations by Lorence Bjorklund.
8vo, original cream pictorial cloth over blindstamped black cloth. Binding
moderately foxed along spine, otherwise fine in very fine d.j.
First edition. Dykes, Fifty Great Western Illustrators (Bjorklund
53). Greene, The Fifty Best Books on Texas, p. 85. Wilson 7. Authentic
stories of the range and the chicanery of western horse trading.
A. C. Greene & His Library: “This was Ben
Green’s great first national publication. Neither Ben nor the publisher
ever looked back after this. And the stories are superb. Frank Dobie, whom Ben
despised, and I’m told, vice versa (possibly both attitudes tainted a bit
with jealousy)—a not unusual Texas-writer reaction to Dobie—never
could quite capture the realism Ben Green seemed inherently to possess. Dobie,
if, indeed, this was his feeling for Ben, was not alone.”
“There was a deviousness about Ben that shone through.
One West Texas rancher told me, `It was his beady eyes.’ Another ranch
story involved Ben and a young rancher who bought a stud horse together but Ben
took over completely and the young rancher found out little if anything about
their mutual investment. One day Ben was driving along and saw the young rancher
pulling a horse trailer with ‘their’ stud aboard. Ben turned around
his pickup and stopped his partner, asking where he was going with `our’ horse.
The young man said, `Well, he’s pretty worthless to me, so I going to shoot
my half and sell it for dog food.’” $75.00
2227. GREEN, Ben K. Horse Tradin’. New York: Knopf,
1968. xiv, 304 [2] pp., frontispiece and illustrations by Lorence Bjorklund.
8vo, original cream pictorial cloth over blindstamped black cloth. Endpapers
lightly foxed, otherwise very fine in very fine d.j. Signed by author on front
free endpaper.
Fourth printing. $35.00
2228. GREEN, Ben K. The Last Trail Drive through Downtown
Dallas. Flagstaff: Northland Press, [1971]. [6] 73 [1] pp., text illustrations
by Joe Beeler. Oblong 4to, original half red linen over brown buckram. Very
fine in fine d.j.
First edition. Dobie & Dykes, 44 & 44 #50.
Dykes, Collecting Range Life Literature, p. 15; Fifty Great Western
Illustrators (Beeler 41); Western High Spots, p. 64 (“High Spots
of Western Illustrating” #174): “Delightful tale.” Reese, Six
Score 49: “The story of the author’s early venture as a horse
trader, driving a herd of horses from West Texas to Bossier City, La., selling
along the way.” Wilson 16A. $100.00
Item 2228
2229. GREEN, Ben K. The Shield Mares. Austin: Encino Press,
1967. vii [1] 47 [1] pp., brands. 8vo, original ecru decorative boards with
shield on upper cover and Green’s logo on lower cover. Very fine in publisher’s
slipcase.
Limited edition (#373 of 750 copies, signed by author). A.
C. Greene & His Library: “Shield Mares—I’ve
always considered this Ben Green’s best story. Bill Wittliff in 1967 asked
me if I would write the introduction to this. He did it as a small book. I was
more than happy to write the introduction, even though I had only met Ben Green
recently. I had met Bill and Sally Wittliff only once. I sat beside the Clear
Fork River near the old town of Eliasville while my children played while the
water rushed over the dam. I sat in the car and read my notes for the introduction.
This was the beginning of long association with Bill Wittliff and the Encino
Press.” Whaley, Wittliff 22. Wilson 8. $400.00
Item 2229
2230. GREEN, Ben K. Some More Horse Tradin’. New
York: Knopf, 1972. [6] 255 [4] pp., frontispiece and text illustrations by
Joe Beeler. 8vo, original green pictorial cloth gilt. One corner bumped, otherwise
very fine in very lightly worn but fine d.j.
First edition, first issue (green cloth and
misprint on 11th line from bottom p. 11 “wouln’t” instead of “wouldn’t”), first
issue d.j. (dated 9/72 on back flap). Dykes, Fifty Great Western
Illustrators (Beeler 46). Wilson 18: “I confess that should I be forced,
under duress of gunpoint or hurricane, to choose only one of Green’s books
to be marooned with on a deserted island, I should select Some More Horse
Tradin’. Besides containing a reprinting of The Shield Mares, which
many critics and readers consider his masterpiece, [it contains several] close
runner-ups.” $50.00
2231. GREEN, Ben K. A Thousand Miles of Mustangin’. Flagstaff:
Northland Press, [1972]. [6] 145 [1] pp., frontispiece and illustrations by
Joe Beeler. Large 8vo, original light brown pictorial cloth gilt. Very fine
in very fine d.j. Signed by author.
First edition, trade issue, with the reading “if
I he” on page 130, line 11. Dykes, Fifty Great Western Illustrators (Beeler
44). Wilson 17A: “Many Green aficionados, including myself, regard Mustangin’ as
his most entertaining book, and in some respects his most self-revealing. Green
recounts his adventures as a solo hunter of wild mustangs in what was at that
time (the 1930s) the wilderness country of the Texas Big Bend and the mountains
of northern Mexico.”
A. C. Greene & His Library: “I met Ben Green
when Angus Cameron, the Knopf editor who became editor for both Ben Green and
A. C. Greene, called me to ask if Ben and I were kin. I never did know if we
were, although I doubt it; Ben’s Green branch was in Texas much earlier
than mine. The town of Greenville in North Texas was named for his people. Ben,
as devious and tricky as he could be, was always straightforward with me and
I think I got to know him, as far as Ben Green, the writer, was concerned, as
well as anybody. I loved his brashness and respected the experiences that entitled
him to be brash. Ben was a conservative man with a buck and with his work. One
night he called me from Cumby, his first and last home, and said, ‘Greenie
(he never tolerated the E on the end of my name), you got a contract with K-nopp
(his pronunciation of the publishing company); when it says 85,000 words, does
that include the Introduction?’ I said I supposed it did, if he wanted
to take the trouble to do a word count. ‘Damn right, I do. I ain’t
givin’ them one more word than they’ve contracted for. There’s
1,295 words in my Introduction so I’m cuttin’ out that many in the
text.’” $200.00
Item 2231
2232. GREEN, Ben K. A Thousand Miles of Mustangin’. Flagstaff: Northland Press, [1972]. Another copy. Not signed by author. Very fine in very fine d.j. $100.00
2233. GREEN, Ben K. The Village Horse Doctor West of the Pecos. New
York: Knopf, 1971. [8] 306 [2] pp., frontispiece and full-page text illustrations
by Lorence Bjorklund. 8vo, original beige pictorial linen. Very fine in d.j.
Signed by author.
First edition. Dykes, Fifty Great Western Illustrators (Bjorklund
58). Wilson 84.
A. C. Greene & His Library: “During World
War II, when all the younger veterinarians were called into service, Ben was
given a U.S. government certificate to practice veterinary medicine and this
book is the result of those years west of the Pecos. (Incidentally, Ben once
told me he hated what he called ‘small animals.’ I don’t think
he hated the small animals so much as their owners. He worked only with large
animals, he said.)” $150.00
2234. GREEN, Ben K. The Village Horse Doctor.... New York: Knopf, 1971. Another copy. Light shelf wear, otherwise a fine copy, d.j. not present. $25.00
2235. GREEN, Ben K. Wild Cow Tales. New York: Knopf, 1969.
[6] 306 [2] pp., frontispiece and illustrations by Lorence Bjorklund. 8vo,
original blindstamped brown cloth, spine gilt-lettered. Very fine in price-clipped
d.j. Signed by author. Typed index card laid in: “4-11-69—10:25
am Mr. D: Just in case you did not get one of the enclosed signed copies accept
this one with my compliments for your personal library. ERW.”
First trade edition. Dykes, Fifty Great Western
Illustrators (Bjorklund 55). Reese, Six Score 50: “Dr. Green
mostly wrote about horses, but could do just as well with cows, as this book
proves.” Wilson 11A: “Green demonstrates an encyclopedic and very
practical knowledge of cow psychology, which he puts to good use in a number
of difficult situations.” $125.00
2236. [GREEN, BEN K.]. WILSON, Robert A. (comp.). Ben K. Green:
A Descriptive Bibliography of Writings by and about Him. Flagstaff: Northland
Press, 1977. [8] xix [1] 151 [1] pp., illustrations. 8vo, original black
cloth over grey cloth. Very fine in publisher’s red board slipcase.
Author’s inscribed presentation inscription to Carl Hertzog and with
his bookplate. Related newsclipping laid in.
First edition, limited edition (#15 of 100 signed copies).
The limited edition includes a previously unpublished story by Green. $250.00
2237. [GREEN, BEN K.]. WILSON, Robert A. (comp.). Ben K. Green:
A Descriptive Bibliography.... Flagstaff: Northland Press, 1977. xix
[1] 158 [1] pp., frontispiece portrait, photographs. 8vo, original grey cloth.
Very fine in d.j. Author’s signed presentation copy to Carl Hertzog,
with his inscription indicating that this copy was sent to Hertzog practically
straight from the bindery. Hertzog bookplate.
First edition, trade issue. $100.00
2238. GREEN, Paul. Texas: A Musical Romance of Panhandle
History. Palo Duro Canyon State Park: The Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation & The
West Texas State University, 1970. [54] pp., color photographic text illustrations
by Ben Carlton Mead. 4to, original multicolor illustrated wrappers by Mead.
Very fine, with related program laid in.
First printing. Souvenir program of musical performed
outdoors yearly at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, naturally including depictions
of range and cowboy life at the time of the story. This dramatic spectacle work
is the work of Pulitzer-Prize winner Paul Green. The play is now the Official
Play of the State of Texas. $30.00
2239. GREEN, Rena Maverick. “Mavericks”: Authentic
Account of the Term “Maverick” As Applied to Unbranded Cattle. [San
Antonio: Artes Graficas, 1937]. 13 [1] pp. 12mo, original brown printed wrappers
with brand, stapled. Very fine. Scarce.
First separate issue. Herd 921: “Scarce....
These articles originally appeared in the St. Louis Republic, November,
1889.” Authentic account of the origin of the word “maverick” as
applied to unbranded cattle, along with a short biographical sketch of Samuel
A. Maverick (see Handbook of Texas: Samuel Augustus Maverick). $100.00
Item 2239
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