Featured Items
- Back of Beyond Books - Featured Items
- Featured items that Back of Beyond Books plans to bring to RMBPF 2018.
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Featured Items
Description:
Sepia-toned photographic print depicting La Plata Canyon and Madden Peak near Hesperus, Colorado. Print was likely taken by Updike circa 1909. Copyright information in manuscript in bottom right corner. Print measures 10 ¾" x 6 ¾"and is in very good condition. Light wear to corners, light pencil marginalia and glue residue on verso. Around 1907, William Pennington and fellow photographer, Lisle Updike opened Pen-Dike Studio in Durango, Colorado; Pennington managing the studio, doing portrait work and operating the dark room, and Updike taking photos in nearby towns and mining camps. With great contrast, this print depicts the wilds of Colorado, with melting snow in the foreground, majestic peaks at the heart of the image, and beautiful clouds in the background.
Price $225.00
Description:
Condition: Very Good. True First Edition. A true first edition, Chicago imprint and inscribed by Sheridan on title page. Reprinted in Washington in same year, Chicago imprint being much rarer. Ex-library copy with rubber stamps from the "Long Island Historical Society"; one stamp located on second title page and one on last leaf of text block. Period binding with three-quarter leather and marbled paper boards; and title on a red leather pastedown on spine. All edges have light toning and a few leaves have light chipping on the fore edge, not affecting content. Signature from Sheridan reads "Compliments of Lt. Gen. Sheridan." This is the "official compilation covering the bloodiest years in western warfare" (Howes) and details over 400 engagements. Howes S395. ; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; 120 pp; Signed by Author.
Price $1,200.00
Description:
Condition: Very Good. An original Santa Fe Railway travel poster printed circa 1949. "Don Perceval, Loma Hongna" is printed in the top, left corner, and "Buffalo Dancer" is captioned above Hopiland. Poster measures 18" x 24" and is in very good condition. Poster is shrink-wrapped, has not been examined out of shrink wrap. Poster has light creasing and soiling to margins. These bright, exciting posters highlighted possible areas to explore, furthering the growth of train travel and the Railway's popularity. Don Perceval, an English-born artist, first visited northern Arizona's Hopi and Navajo lands in 1927 and returned to the area after World War II. He designed a series of posters for the Santa Fe railroad featuring attractions of the West. Image may have slight glare due to shrink wrap.
Price $575.00
Description:
Red cloth boards with title gilt on front; text block is set up accordion style with numerous views. Boards have light soiling and wear to all edges; excluding the first panel, which has light soiling, the views included are in pristine condition with no wear or soiling. This view book contains many illustrations including Animas Canon, Echo Cliffs, Valley of the Gunnison, Castle Gate, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Denver and more. ; B&W Illustrations; 24mo 5" - 6" tall.
Price $250.00
Description:
Collection of 89 photograph negatives of surveys completed by Lewis Franklin Biggs of the United States Geological Survey taking place between 1904 and 1912. Included with this set are four pages of proof sheets, reproducing 26 of the 89 photo negatives. The content of the negatives is fascinating with many images of western mountain ranges, boom towns, railroads, survey equipment and the survey crew. Lewis F. Biggs worked for the USGS performing topographical surveys in the Pacific Division, surveying areas in Arizona, California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming (Annual Report of the Director of the USGS, 1909-1910). On these surveys he established permanent benchmarks and created maps, both of which were considered highly important for U. S. Military efforts. Although many images found in these negatives have unidentified locations or persons, some have been determined. Identified within this collection are locations such as Mount Shasta and the Trinity River (written in manuscript in margin of two negatives) , and a Pecos Valley & Northeastern Railroad car was observed. Negatives that were printed on proof sheets depict two boom towns located in the mountains, a large Joshua tree with what looks to be four of the survey crew, men skinny-dipping, horse and mules teams trekking across various landscapes, and two images of Native Americans. Most notable are the two negatives depicting Native Americans, one of a group in a canoe donning feather and fur headdresses and the other of a group in ceremonial clothing, performing a dance in the center of a busy clearing. The participants of the ceremony are holding poles capped by the head of deer with the skinned deer hide still attached to the head leading down the length of the pole.
The consignee of this collection noted that this is the only known image of this ceremonial dance, but we have found other images found at the University of Southern California that have similar content. From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California: The White Deer Skin Dance "was a special ceremony of the Hoopa Indians. To obtain the skin of a white deer is to secure a mascot that will protect the owner for life. These skins are very scarce and were probably handed down for several generations. They must not be sold or traded. In the intervals between dances, the priest or old man relates to the people the stories of former days and the laws they should observer with care. The ceremony ends with a dance in which all the braves participate. The white deerskin dance is one of the peculiar survivals of the superstitious of the California Indian. To kill a deer is not such an exceptional occurrence, but to obtain the skin of a white deer is to obtain secure a mascot which will protect the owner and his friends from every trouble. Frequently, these skins are handed down as heirlooms from generation to generation, and it is asserted that a white deerskin in a canoe will save the occupants no matter how tremendous the storm that overtakes them." This record of USGS survey, California Native American culture, and western landscapes found in these negatives make the collection quite valuable. The original photographs created from these negatives were sold by the North American Auction Company in January 2017 in which two photo albums sold for $2,750. The captivating narrative surrounding these images and their immense historical value make this collection a rarity.
Most negatives measure 6" x 4" and are in very good condition. Fingerprinting and various levels of exposure were observed, and two of the negatives are damaged, one with chipping on one edge, the other with 1" piece missing from the center.
Price $2,750.00