Trip to the West and Texas. Comprising a Journey of Eight Thousand Miles, through New-York, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana and Texas, in the Autumn and Winter of 1834-1835. Interspersed with Anecdotes, Incidents and Observations. With a Brief Sketch of the Texan War.
Concord, N.H: William White. Boston: Benjamin B. Mussey, 1836.
Second (and best) edition. Without the map (not found in all copies) and LACKING the frontispiece; 2 full-page wood-engravings (p.172; and p. 178 of shooting deer). iv, [5]-380pp. 1 vols. 12mo. Original cloth, title "Texas" in gilt on spine beneath a design of Texas flag, stamped with motto "Independence", printed upside down. Occasional stains to text, overall very good. Signed Nicholas Lincoln on the flyleaf. Bookplate of James Torr Harmer Howes P74; Graff 3183; Phillips, Sporting Books, p. 286; Sabin 58643; Jenkins, Basic Texas 159; Streeter Texas 1172a. Item #241463
Written on the eve of the Texas Revolution, Parker's account of his travels there is greatly valued as of the earliest accounts of Texas written in English. The son of a prominent New Hampshire Senator, Parker was 43 when he set out on his journey, and spent over a month in Texas, visiting San Augustine, Nacogdoches, Hall's Ferry on the Brazos River, San Antonio ("like all Spanish towns, is composed of houses built of logs and mud, and makes a squalid appearance") San Felipe, Columbia, Brazoria, and Velasco. He is particularly observant of the land and its qualities (and abundance!), the peculiar fauna, the people, and the prospects there for emigrants, particularly Northern emigrants; e.g.,"neither Galveston Bay nor the flat country all along the seacoast, is the place for a northern man. It is too much infested with alligators, mocassan [sic] snakes, and moschetoes." The author's intelligent remarks on slavery, and his prescient observations on the growing conflict between the Anglo and Spanish heritage of the state have been remarked by others. Further, this second edition is extremely important, as it is the first to contain an additional chapter on the "Texian Revolution."
Price: $750.00 Free International Delivery
