Scenes and Stories of Early West Texas (Inscribed By Carl Hertzog for J. Evetts Haley and His Wife, Roz (Rosalind Kress Haley)

University of Texas at El Paso; (1975): Texas Western Press. Oblong Octavo. 93 pages. Boldly signed by Carl Hertzog and inscribed to J. Evetts Haley and his wife, Roz. original unclipped printed clear mylar jacket priced $10. In 1885, at the age of ten, D. D. Parramore studied art with an itinerant artist in the four-year-old town of Abilene, Texas. Although he displayed considerable talent, he was discouraged from sketching and painting by his father. He was allowed no more instruction in what was then considered an unmanly occupation, especially for the son of an enterprising frontier cattleman, Heeding his father's wishes, Pharramore homesteaded land and bought surrounding sections in West Texas. After his retirement from active ranching, however, he returned to his early love of drawing. In the mid-1930s he began a series of pencil sketches to entertain and instruct his two young grandchildren. The activity grew into a satisfying hobby, which he pursued until his death in 1946. The drawings depict an unromanticized and sometimes humorous version of the life of early settlers and cowboys that Paramore remembered so well. He had a wealth of favorite stories that he illustrated in words and sketches, but taken together, they represent a cross-section of ranch life in Texas just before and after the turn of the century. Today these are among the finest showing West Texas in the 1890's. A fine copy bound inbrown and white cloth, lettered and decorated in black in clear printed mylar jacket.