5. BATES, Ed[mund] F[rank]. History and Reminiscences of Denton County . Denton : McNitzky Printing Company, [1918]. xi [5] 412 pp., frontispiece portrait, 2 photographic panoramas on one folding plate, numerous photographic illustrations (mostly portraits). 8vo, original gilt-lettered black cloth.  Publisher’s original prospectus laid in. Lower hinge cracked (but strong), occasional foxing, otherwise a fine copy of a rare book.

     First edition of the first reliable history of Denton County, Texas. Adams, Guns 168: “Contains a chapter on Sam Bass, telling of his life in Denton , Texas , his start in crime, his career, and his death.” Adams, Herd 222. Adams , One-Fifty 6. CBC 1328. Dykes, Rare Western Outlaw Books, p. 15.  Dobie, p. 50: “A sample of much folk life found in county histories.” Howes B234. Rader 296. In addition to being an excellent and very scarce county history, this book contains a good account of early ranching and cattle drives in Denton County . “In the early days Denton County had but little to sell, except horses and cattle, which were driven overland to market in the North and East from three to eight hundred miles away.... To be a cowboy, in deed and truth, meant something more than a fairy tale” (pp. 167-168). The photographic panoramas are a valuable historical record. ($250-500)

Auction 19 Short Title List | Auction 19 Prices Realized