The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967 Page: 681
728 p. : maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Reviews
western history." This reviewer senses that it is somewhat more.
As a guide, the book contains identifications, usually with illus-
trations, and descriptions of function of some fifty broad cate-
gories and seventy-odd sub-categories of ordinary tools, gear, and
relics commonplace in the plains and mountain frontiers of the
post-Civil War West. Items which Beitz considers sufficiently typ-
ical or representative for inclusion in his guide range from wagon
hub-nut wrenches and bridle bits to bunkhouse bootjacks and
"tidy racks."
In addition, for each category and sub-category, the author
proposes tentative, realistic price ranges for the collector's guid-
ance. Suggested values are based on condition and reflect pric-
ings ranging from frontier model Colts at $2oo0, iron-framed
Henrys at $500, and original Wyeth paintings at $7,500, through
cast-iron Buffalo Bill statuettes, food safes and angle lamps, and
Union forage caps or Confederate military stirrups at $25, to
a choice of lengths of barbed wire, pulp paper western maga-
zines, bit snaffles, lamp chimneys, dehorning saws, or ox shoes
at $1 each. Finally, Beitz introduces an additional rating device
in his suggested "scarcity" scale: 1-g, common; 4-6, scarce; and
7-9, rare.
In addition to serving as an initial effort in the process of
compiling a comprehensive handbook on frontier miscellany,
the guide precedes each price-scarcity table with a descriptive
text which both explores the characteristics of the individual
items in the category and adds Beitz's own account of the man-
ner in which he located and acquired many of the items in his
extensive personal collection. In essence, these sections provide
chatty, shirt-sleeve commentaries on the art and practice of
collecting.
Whether the Treasury of Frontier Relics is regarded as an
annotated guide, a manual for price estimation, or simply as a
delightful collector's item about collectors' items, it seems des-
tined for wide acceptance as an authentic piece of Western
Americana-and as the starting point for additional work in the
field.Midwestern University
681
FLOYD EWING
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967, periodical, 1967; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101199/m1/713/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.