The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 58, July 1954 - April, 1955 Page: 553

Zeras Collectio
H. BAILEY CARROLL
FROM the Newberry Library in the windy and cold city
of Chicago has come a heart-warming letter from a trans-
planted Texan who is rapidly winning acclaim as a his-
torian of Western America. He is Eugene Hollon, who, before
departing for the University of Oklahoma, was quite prom-
inent in a number of capacities at annual meetings of the Asso-
ciation about a decade ago. Dr. Hollon's book on Randolph B.
Marcy will soon be issued by the University of Oklahoma Press.
He is, however, already started on another enterprise and the
subject of this next publication brings Hollon back to the Texas
field, which has brought him in contact with a reference work,
the account of which will interest members of the Association.
I want to take a little time to pass on to you some comments in
respect to the Handbook. I doubt if anyone has yet used it as much
as I already have. I have a fellowship now from the Newberry Library
at Chicago and am editing the papers of William Bollaert (the 1300oo
pages of his notes and diaries made during his travels in Texas,
1842-1844). These papers have been in the Ayer Collection since
1911, and I am sure that you are familiar with them and know what
an original source they are relative to the period of the Republic.
The Press at the University of Oklahoma will publish the work in
about a year.
But back to the Handbook: In the course of my transcribing the
notes into readable type, I am checking names and places and events
in almost every paragraph, and with rare exceptions I have been able
to identify characters, ghost towns, plantations, ferry sites, roads, and
the like in the Handbook. I am constantly amazed at the thorough
and accurate composition of your publication and will be able to save
literally months of work in the library because of this Texas dictionary.
I will have to spend some time this spring in the Barker Library,
but not one tenth as much as I would otherwise. Naturally I have
already been repaid many times for the investment I made in the
Handbook, and really I cannot say enough for it. I doubt that any
other state historical society has even approximated such a publica-
tion of state history.
Dr. Llerena B. Friend, librarian of the University of Texas