The Cowboy And His Interpreters.

DOUGLAS BRANCH

Publication: D Appleton and Company, 1926, New York

First edition. 8vo. Pictorial cloth, endpapers by Joe DeYong, ix [3], 277 [3] pp., frontispiece [drawing by by Will James that also appears on the front panel of the dust jacket]. illustrated, bibliography. Two illustrations by C.M. Russell. 18 illustrations by Joe de Yong. A richly detailed cultural and historical study of the American cowboy as both a real figure and a symbol shaped by literature, folklore, and popular media, aiming to separate the myth from the reality. Branch contrasts the gritty, often lonely reality of cowboy life with the romanticized versions presented by figures like Owen Wister, Frederic Remington, and Buffalo Bill. He critiques the ways in which commercial storytelling shaped national identity and influenced perceptions of the West. Six Score 12 says, "Branch was an easterner and not a rancher, but his work is considered an accurate and useful study. The best section of the book is a literary critique of western writers dealing with the range in fiction." Spine lightly faded else a near fine bright copy in the elusive dust jacket with light wear to the spine ends, corners and extremities. Very scarce in the dust jacket.