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GRENZERLEBEN : Bilder und Skizzen aus dem "Wilden Westen" [Border Experiences : Pictures and Sketches of the "Wild West"]
First and only edition of this self-published immigrant memoir in German detailing the author's life in Texas and New Mexico, including his experiences as a Texas Ranger.
Near fine.
Price: $7,500.00
GRENZERLEBEN : Bilder und Skizzen aus dem "Wilden Westen" [Border Experiences : Pictures and Sketches of the "Wild West"]
"[T]he author has made every effort to paint the 'Wild West' and its inhabitants as they actually are, or were" — preface (translated from German)
Because an enormous number of early German immigrants to America were farmers fleeing land shortages and civil unrest, they largely favored settlement in places rich with agrarian opportunities like Pennsylvania and the Midwest. German immigration to the more unforgiving Texas began in the 1830s — initially driven by an 1831 land grant from Stephen F. Austin to German settler Johann Friedrich Ernst — with large waves following after Europe's widespread 1848 revolutions. German-language guides and travelogues encouraging prospective immigrants to come to Texas proliferated in both America and Germany. In 1842, a group of 21 noblemen established the Adelsverein (Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas), and by 1850, the so-called "German Belt" accounted for roughly 5% of the state's population.
Rubesamen's BILDER UND SKIZZEN [Pictures and Sketches] speaks to this lesser known but no less thriving German immigrant experience. Rubesamen arrived in Texas in 1845, but his tone does not read like that of an outsider. Rather, it is someone simply living a life: following work opportunities, encountering the dangers of frontier flora and fauna, telling stories around a campfire. As he notes in the preface, Rubesamen hopes to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and so includes chapters about Geronimo's Apache tribe, a "pepper-eating, desperado-happy New Mexico," the Navajo Rebellion of 1858, his service as a Texas Ranger (including an unexpected stint as a witness in a Waco courtroom), travel in the Rocky Mountains, runaway donkeys, mescal, a so-called "Gorge of Death," and more. Uncommon in the trade and not in many major bibliographies (Decker, Eberstadt, National Union Catalogue, Adams's Six-Guns). Worthy of further study.
Read more: Howes, U.S.-iana, R489; Ward, Bio-Bibliography of German-American Writers, 1670-1970, p.250; Portal to Texas History, University of North Texas; Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association.
The Object
Chicago: Selbstverlag des Verfassers / In Kommision bei Koelling & Klappenbach, 1894. 7.5'' x 5.25''. Original wine-colored cloth with gilt-stamped titles to spine and front board, beveled edges. Text in German. [xiii], 168 pages. Housed in custom grey slipcase. Light edgewear, gentle bump to top corner, some rubbing and soil. Front hinge starting (cosmetic only), trace marginal toning to text, else clean. Crisp.
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