Texana - , Recollections of Old Texas Days
The Evolution of a State; Or, Recollections of Old Texas Days. Noah Smithwick; Nanna Smithwick Donaldson (compiler). Austin: The University of Texas Press, 1983. Hardcover. 9 ¼ x 6 ¼. Reprint of the 1900 edition, xiii, 265 pages, with many sepia illustrations by artist Charles Shaw.
Very good condition, clean, tight, and unmarked. There is gift inscription from Bill Anderson of the UT Press on the first free-end page with a signed card laid in. The prior owner’s name/address and his embossed circular name stamp on the first free end page. The dust jacket is very good with light shelf wear.
This book is listed by John H. Jenkins as a Basic Texas Book. He says, “Of all Texas memoirs, this is the most fun to read.” J. Frank Dobie said it was the “best of all books dealing with life in early Texas.” It is full of insights into the major and minor events as both a colony and republic. Smithwick was a Texas Ranger and lived with the Comanche, learning their language and representing them in making a treaty with the Texans in 1838. He knew James Bowie, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, David G. Burnet, Gail Borden, and other Texas luminaries.
Price: $7 + $4 shipping = $11 shipped.