The Log Of A Cowboy, A Narrative Of The Old Trail Days.

ANDY ADAMS

Publication: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1903, Boston and New York

First edition. Author's first book. 8vo. Boldly inscribed in ink on the titles page: "Most Sincerely, Andy Adams, Colo. Springs, Colo." Decorated cloth, [14], 387 pp. frontispiece, five plates. Illustrated by E. Boyd Smith.

Widely considered to be the most authentic narrative of
cowboy life ever written, and definitely Adams’ most successful work. This present work follows the passage of Tommy Moore, a young cowboy helping to drive three-thousand Circle-Dot longhorns along the Great Western Cattle Trail from Brownsville, Texas to Montana in 1882. The book is based on author Andy Adams’ experiences on the trail. He wrote this work as a response to the unrealistic cowboy stories that were being written at that time in American history. The Chicago Herald said: “As a narrative of cowboy life, Andy Adams’ book is clearly the real thing. It carries its own certificate of authentic first-hand experience on every page.” Six Score says: "Although fiction, this book is a true-to-life narrative of the drive up the trail from Texas. Dobie says, 'If all other books on trail driving were destroyed, a reader could still get a just and authentic conception of trail men, trail work, range cattle, cow horses, and the cow country in general ...."

This is a wonderful example of a compelling American classic, which is inscribed by the author on the title page and accompanied by two excellent notes from Adams on his letterhead and bearing his manuscript signature.

Adams was born in Thorncreek Township, Indiana. As a boy, he helped with the cattle and horses on the family farm. During the early 1880’s, he went to Texas, where he stayed for 10 years, spending much of that time driving cattle on the western trails. In 1890, he tried working as a businessman, but the venture failed, so he tried gold-mining in Colorado and Nevada. In 1894, he settled in Colorado Springs where he lived until his death.

Lightly rubbed at the spine ends and corners else a near fine bright copy of a book that is scarce in the first edition. Housed in a cloth slipcase with titles stamped in gilt on a leather spine label.