LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 December Signature Texana Auction #661  / 

56424

Joseph E. Field: Three Years in Texas

Currency:USD Category:Books / Antiquarian & Collectible Start Price:10,000.00 USD Estimated At:17,500.00 - 25,000.00 USD
Joseph E. Field: Three Years in Texas
<B>Joseph E. Field: </B></I><B><I>Three Years in Texas. Including a View of the Texian Revolution</B></I></B></I>, <I>and an Account of the Principal Battles, together with Descriptions of the Soil, Commercial and Agricultural Advantages, &c. By Dr. Joseph E. Field, One of the Few Survivors of Fanning's [sic] Command</B></I>. (Boston: Abel Tompkins, 1836). Second edition (the first was published the same year in Greenfield, Massachusetts). Twelvemo (7" x 4"). 47 pages. Half blue morocco over blue cloth, gilt. Moderate foxing and light soiling, else very good. Housed in a quarter morocco clamshell case with a book-back spine lettered in gilt. A native of Massachusetts. Dr. Field had gone to the southern states in the early 30's, thence to Texas where he spent two years in the vicinity of Brazoria and Matagorda, and then volunteered on the outbreak of hostilities between Texas and Mexico, joining the ill-fated expedition of Col. James W. Fannin. After the capture of Fannin and the execution of a large part of his force, Field escaped to Velasco. In some respects Field's narrative differs from later historians, as Field asserts that Fannin was not entirely in favor of carrying the war into Mexico by seizing the port of Matamoras, after the fall of San Antonio. The author has devoted almost 20 pages of his work to describe the political and military situation and his personal experiences in the war. Being a physician and a man of some discretion, he gives us one of the most readable accounts in English, up to that time, of the commercial and agricultural advantages of Texas. He also gives some account of Crockett's last days at the Alamo. Streeter mentions this title in his introduction, declaring it as one of the most important books for a Texas collection: "For the revolution as a whole, the most sought-after book is Field's". "This important Texas pamphlet seems to be the first printing in book or pamphlet form of an account by a participant of the taking of San Antonio by the Texans in December, 1835...and of the capitulation and massacre of the Fannin forces at Goliad in March, 1836.... This is the first published account by a participant, except perhaps in a newspaper, of these two important events in the Texas Revolution. It is one of the best sources for the tragic defeat of Fannin.... Being a surgeon, he was ordered to attend the Mexican wounded and thus was one of the few who escaped the mass execution ordered by Santa Anna a few days after Fannin's surrender." -Streeter 1202A. He was one of only a few men to survive. After his escape, he visited friends in Massachusetts where he wrote this account which first appeared in August 1836 as a sketch in the Franklin Mercury, a weekly newspaper published by Justin Jones. In September Jones printed the pamphlet version. Field later traveled overland with Asa B. Clarke, author of <I>Travels in Mexico and California</B></I>. Eberstadt, <I>Texas</B></I> 162:291. Raines, page 81. <I>Fifty Texas Rarities</B></I> 14 (Greenfield printing). <I>From the collection of Darrel Brown.</B></I><BR><B><BR>Reference: </B></I>Streeter 1202A. Graff 1314. Howes F114.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Books & Catalogs (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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