Olmsted, Frederick Law. A JOURNEY THROUGH TEXAS;

Olmsted, Frederick Law. A JOURNEY THROUGH TEXAS; OR, A SADDLE-TRIP ON THE SOUTHWESTERN FRONTIER: WITH A STATISTICAL APPENDIX. Dix, Edwards and Co. 1st. 1857. 516 pgs. Frontis. Folding map titled MAP OF PART OF THE STATE OF TEXAS. Prepared by J.H. Colton & Co.

Reference: Jenkins – Basic Texas Books #157. “The most civilized of all 19th century books on Texas, thIs is also the most interesting and the most dependable. Olmsted’s account of his travels in Texas and the South has been almost universally applauded: James Russell Lowell wrote that “no more important contributions to contemporary American history have been made.” and Harriet Beecher Stowe, praising its account of slavery, called it “the most thorough expose of the economical view of this subject which has ever appeared.” C.W. Raines said that there has been “no better book yet written of travels in Texas.” Among recent critics, Arthur M. Schlesinger said it is “an indispensable work in the process of recapturing the American past.” Larry McMurtry praised it as “an intelligent, lively book, packed with keen observation and lightened by a delicate strain of humor…. (It) remains one of the most readable of 19th century American travel books.” Basler 4365. Campbell, p.57. Clark 481. Coleman 3431. Dobie, pp. 48 and 52. Graff 3097. Howes O79. Rader 2549-50. Raines, p. 159. Sabin 57243.

“Olmsted offers many insights into economic and social life. He gives one of the earliest descriptions of the Texas cattle ranch. He describes hoe-downs, fandangos, army posts, rattlesnakes…., horse shoeing, and attitudes towards Sam Houston. Of the estimated 12,000 Indians: “Nothing can be more lamentable than the condition of the wandering tribes. They are permanently on the verge of starvation. Having been forced back, step by step, from the hunting-grounds and the fertile soil of Lower Texas to the bare and arid plains, it is no wonder they are driven to violence and angry depredations.”

Spine professionally conserved, several tears to folding map, overall in vg cond.