Altowan; or, incidents of life and adventure in the Rocky Mountains
PRESENTATION COPY, WITH A DISTINGUISHED PROVENANCE
Two volumes. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1846. First edition.
Duodecimo in 6s (7 3/16” x 4 9/16”, 183mm x 115mm).
Vol. I: binder’s blank, A4 B12 C-X6 Y2, binder’s blank [$2 signed (on 1 and 3)]. 132 leaves, pp. [2] (title, copyright) i-iii (notice, blank, dedication) iv-xxix, blank, 25 26-255, blank. [=xxxii, 232]
Vol. II: binder’s blank, A-U6, binder’s blank [$2 signed (on 1 and 3); –A1]. 120 leaves, pp. 1-3 (title, copyright, text) 4-240.
Bound in the publisher’s presentation black morocco. On the boards, a double gilt fillet border surrounding a large gilt scrollwork vignette. On the spine, five raised bands with a dashed gilt roll. In the panels, gilt scrollwork with guilloche at the bottom. Title and number gilt to the second panel, within a double gilt fillet border. Gilt roll to the edges of the boards, continuing onto the inside dentelle. All edges of the text-block gilt.
Wear to the extremities. Some scattered foxing. Altogether a very good set. Presentation inscription from J. Watson Webb to W.S. Stell (“from his friend”) to both volumes; in vol. I, to the recto of the first free end-paper; in vol. II, to the recto of the initial binder’s blank. Bookplates of Amos Tuck French (Tucks Eden, Tuxedo Park) and Jay Snider to the front paste-down of both volumes. An explanatory note manuscript tipped in to the first free end-paper of vol. I. Presented in a custom quarter black morocco slip-case with two black cloth chemises by J. Desmonts, J. Macdonald Co., Norwalk, Conn.
James Watson Webb (1802–1884) was a general and a newspaperman and eventually an ambassador. He identifies himself as the editor of the account, though bibliographies (e.g., Wagner) attribute the authorship to him. The Amateur Traveler is Sir William Drummond Stewart (1795–1871), who is also fairly patently the title-character. Though Stewart has long been known as the patron of Alfred Jacob Miller, the great artist of the American West, he is being re-examined in the twenty-first century as a chronicler of queer love in the unexplored wilds. Stewart himself had a lover, Antoine Clement, whom he variously called his valet or footman. Stewart held an elaborate all-male Renaissance-costumed fête at what is now called Fremont Lake in Wyoming. It is easy to see the influence Altowan might have had on Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain.”
Whatever Webb’s role in the production of Altowan, he shepherded it through the press in New York and was able to inscribe the present copy to his friend W[illiam] S[horter] Stell (1800–1863), a Philadelphia merchant who emigrated with his family to Manchester, England. The exact connection between the two men is unclear; John Ashton Nicholls recalls being introduced to General Webb by a letter from Stell, so the relationship was doubtless close. The book passed through the family. Stell’s daughter, Julia, married Edward Tuck (noted in the slip tipped in to the front paste-down of vol. I), for whom the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth is named. Tuck’s half-sister, Ellen Tuck, was married to Francis Ormond French, president of the Manhattan Trust Co. Their son, Amos Tuck French, who in turn became president of the Manhattan Trust Co., came by whatever means to own the books.
Jay T. Snider, also a prominent Philadelphian (and former owner of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team), has disbursed at several single-owner sales his collection of important Americana. Purchased at his sale, Christie’s New York (20 June 2005, lot 241).
Field 1632; Graff 3986; Howes S 991; Sabin 91392; Wagner-Camp-Becker 125.
Item #6JLR0085
Price: $12,000