Lawrence, A. B. (attributed to) | The earliest first-hand bird's-eye view of Austin, Texas

Lawrence, A. B. (attributed to)
Texas in 1840, or The Emigrant's Guide to the New Republic; being the Result of Observation, Enquiry and Travel in that Beautiful Country. By an Emigrant, Late of the United States. New York: William W. Allen, 1840

8vo. Lithographed frontispiece, "City of Austin the New Capital of Texas in January 1. 1840," by J. Lowe after Edward Hall, text without the usual foxing. Bound to style in 19th-century red morocco, ruled and lettered in gilt to the original cloth design.

First edition, with William Cullen Bryant's "Prairies of Texas" poem at the end, and the earliest first-hand bird's-eye view of Austin, one of the earliest bird's-eye views of any town in the West.

The accompanying description of Austin is one of the most extensive of the period, and contains chapters describing all aspects of life in the state, with accounts of the geological, zoological, and botanical aspects. The author, Rev. A. B. Lawrence, was editor of the New Orleans Presbyterian, and pages 29-80 of this volume reflect his diary of his journey from Galveston to Austin via Houston, Washington-on-the-Brazos, Rutersville, La Grange, and Bastrop. There is a long interview with General Edward Burleson, who mounted many campaigns against Texas tribes. Chapter 9 contains discussion of how simple it is to raise cattle herds in Texas and states that cattle left running wild will increase on their own, "doubling their number every three or four years" (131).

Subsequent issues of the book came out in 1842, 1844, and 1845 (Streeter 1361A-C), but the print of Austin appears in only two versions, with the later version redrawn, uncolored, and probably an engraving.

REFERENCE
BAL I:371; Basic Texas Books 120; Bradford 2939; Clark, Travels in the Old South III:248; Howes L154; Sabin 95122. Siebert Sale 951; Streeter 1361

Condition Report:
Condition as described in catalogue entry.