John Wesley Hardin, Dark Angel of Texas

El Paso: Mangan Books, 1996 Deluxe edition. Number 20 of 50 copies specially bound, hand-numbered and signed by the author. xiv, 335pp. Illustrated throughout with vintage photographs; 3 facsimiles for this edition. Notes, appendix, bibliography, index. Half black morocco, gilt, navy blue cloth sides. A very fine copy with matching slipcase. Robert G. McCubbin is probably the leading collector of rare photographs and books about outlaws. It was Bob McCubbin who took it upon himself to produce this special edition from the regular printing. Bob did this with other outlaw books as well. This special deluxe edition is quite handsome and features a special colophon leaf and three tipped-in facsimiles from Bob's extensive collection: a photograph of Hardin, a playing card shot through by him, and a copy of his bar bill from the Wigwam Saloon in 1895. In this fine work, Metz strips away the veneer of western romance and delves deeply into Hardin's murky soul. Hardin was both ruthless and righteous. He was intensely loyal to his friends and family, but still, a gunfighter and murderer. Laid into this copy is a pamphlet (1/500 published by McCubbin) of Metz's Four Sixes to Beat. The Death of John Wesley Hardin, as well as a letter to McCubbin relative to the pamphlet. These special deluxe editions by McCubbin are very, very scarce.. Signed by Author.