James David HoranCritiques

Photographs, documents, reproductions of Remington paintings, and biographical sketches recreate the lives of Western outlaws, gunfighters, and lawmen

500 Illustrations with lively text depict one of the most financially difficult times the world has ever seen.

"Denna bok bygger på personliga brev, minnesanteckningar, nedskrivna till författarens tjänst på dennes begäran, bandupptagningar, intervjuer med nu avlidna personer och opublicerade familjeminnen, och är därför inte offentlig egendom".

After having read "A Dynasty of western Outlaws" by Wellman, I found this group biography also interesting, though the Wellman is a better book.

The Confederacy and the Northwest Conspiracy - linked to the Lincoln Assassination

A mass biography of Butch Cassidy, Ben Kilpatrick, and "the Sundance Kid". This book has relationship to the 1969 Film, directed by Sam Peckinpah. "It fills in an informational gap about a prominent set of bank robbers.

a true story of how Captain Hines almost convinced 3 northern states to join the confederate cause only brought to light in the 1950s by Horan

Fine folio reproduction copy of one of the most remarkable sets of hand colored lithographs of Native Americans ever made. This book is indispensable for the dealers in antique prints of Indians in the early 19th century. This book oddly used the later 4to series of prints which contains different spellings for the Indians. This varies from the original folio plates. The Birmingham Al library has two sets that can be viewed I have done it. This is one of the most important sets of prints ever made in American outside of the folio Aububons of the same time period. Both of these series were reproduced later in the smaller 4to sizes. this 3 vol book sells for over $50,000 at auction up to $80,000. The original Audubon folios bring up to $10 million. Other important prints of early Indians are those of Bodmer and Catlin. The McKenney- Hall series are simple portraits of Indians who visited Washington City before 1834. The Catlin and Bodmer prints are scenes of villages and activities. My favorite scenes are known as "ball play" which is modern day LaCrosse and similar to football especially the playing field and goals which are similar to today's fields.The quality of the Bodmer art is stunning.
Most of the oil painting were done by Charles Bird King at Washington City as the important Indians, male and female, visited there.
Thomas L McKenney, the chief of the Bureau of Indian affairs took the oil portraits and had hand colored lithographs made for his personal gain along with this partner Hall who was in charge of writing the copy and getting the book produced, Much of the copy of lacks authenticity. McKenney did not have legal permission to reproduce the oils. The collection of Indian artifacts in the office of the Indian bureau became the beginnings of the Smithsonian collection. Most of the original oils were burned in a fire so the lithographs are all that remain as images of the Indian visitors to Washington. The lithographs were produced over a 3 year period and made at three different companies in Philadelphia in the 1830s. It appears that McKenney struggled with producing his 3 volume folio book. This practice of painting Indians at the Indian Bureau ended with the Indian removal act of 1834 and the removal of McKenney from his job by Jackson. The production of this book occurred during the time of the forced removal of Indians to the west and the "trail of tears". These prints remain very popular with print collectors.

Pinkerton National Detective Agency stories.

Surprising serious history of earlynphotography and Brady'ls career, followed by a wonderful set of photographs, not just the famous Civil War ones, but many other figures from the period, actors, writers etc.

Captain Thomas Henry Hines incidental story of spying in Canada for the Confederacy. Great narrative of John Hunt Morgan's raiders as a compliment to Basil Dukes memoirs.

Just finished this book. For anyone who enjoys history of the wild west this is one fine book!

Suggested for the student of photography. While not as well known as Matthew Brady, O'Sullivan was every bit his equal. In addition to a fine biography of this early American photographer, his photographs of the Civil War are a treasure trove for historians.

I had always appreciated Mathew Brady's haunting Civil War photographs, and his photographs of Abraham Lincoln, and had thought that this was the extent of his accomplishments. This is dedinitely untrue; he was the eminent photographer in America just a decade or so after photography was first demonstrated. Interestingly, Brady learned much of the art from Samuel F.B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph, who himself learned it from Louis Daguerre in France. Ten years later Mathew Brady knocked on the door of the White House to take the first ever photograph of a sitting President,James K. Polk. Brady quickly rose to the top of the fledgling group of practitioners, establishing a gallery/studio in New York City, and becoming much sought after by the celebrated and unknowns alike for his fine work. Ironically, Brady's eyes would worsen over the years, forcing him to delegate much of his work to assistants whom he had trained. The author notes this, only ascribing a particular photograph to Brady alone when he was sure of it. If Brady had never ventured upon the Civil War battlefields, nor met Lincoln, he would still be known today for his pioneering work in photography, and his portraits of the famous and not-so-famous of the day. When the Civil War broke out, he obtained permission from the Secretary of War to take his cumbersome equipment to the scenes and document the war. The government would not help financially with this, so he was forced to expend his large amassed fortune for the project, eventually bankrupting himself. Amazingly and infuriatingly, for decades afterward the government would not spend the funds to properly store, print or display the fragile and massive collection, and many invaluable wet prints were lost to accident, fire and the ravages of time before anything was done. The first half of the book is textual biography; the second half is a Brady (and a few others) gallery. Many of the pictures are indeed haunting, especially several of Lincoln, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. But there are many fascinating photographs displayed here, many for the first time, a veritable Who's Who of the times. Some of the subjects here include John Quincy Adams, the walking dead from Andersonville Prison, Susan B. Anthony, P.T. Barnum and his "freak show", Clara Barton, John Wilkes Booth, Brady himself, John Brown, George Custer, Jefferson Davis, Stephen Douglas, Thomas A. Edison, Andrew Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and early pictures of New York City, Washington D.C., the White House, the Capitol, the Washington Monument and Niagara Falls. Brady died in poverty, almost forgotten; it is a nice touch that the author comes full circle by telling in his epilogue that the Army Air Force reconaissance plane is named the Mathew B. Brady. A fascinating and informative look at a true giant in American history and photography.½

EXCELLENT CONDITION , COMES WITHOUT PAPER COVER.