The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 96
498 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Last spring Texas lost one of her most colorful and well-known book
publishers, Herbert Fletcher. Numerous notices were given of his
death, each saying in its own way who lie was and what he meant to
Texas. None, however, came closer to revealing that personality than
George Fuermann in his column in the Houston Post of March 1i ,
1968:
CLOSING THE BOOKS - HERBERT FLETCHER, who died last week
at age 75, was a mischief-maker and an eager dragon who was loath
to say a good word about a man to his face but would praise him be-
hind his back. A blithe spirit rich in crotchets, a Robin Hood of books,
he would be a legend if this city would compose itself long enough for
a legend to take hold.
He was the last of a disparate and singular trio of book-sellers who
were a benign influence here for many years; Carolyn Levy of Foley's
and Minnie Sproemberg of the old Pillot's died earlier. For his
part Fletcher liked to say that he got his start with the help of the
financier Jesse H. Jones-and then he would exxplain:
After starting his Anson Jones Press (named for the last president
of the Republic of Texas) in the 1920's, he ordered $1,000 worth of
Bibles. When the salesman called the order to New York, Fletcher
could overhear the credit man's voice:
"Now, look here, this Anson Jones outfit doesn't seem to have
any credit rating. What do you actually know about them?"
"Just ship the books, Sam," the salesman said. "I don't know a
thing about Anson, but this man Jones gets anything he wants down
here."
Fletcher was a contradiction of many things he pretended to be.
Though he was generous, he posed as a sharper and a pinchpenny. But
if he thought you should have some book, you would wind up with it
if he had to give it to you. That he always played fair, and then some,
embarrassed him.
He was neither humble nor tolerant, but his want of humility
was a seasoning, as it was in Bernard Shaw, and his want of tolerance
was a virtue, as it was in H. L. Mencken. Indeed, Fletcher reminded
you of Shaw and Mencken, especially Mencken, in his flair, his zest
and his well-tempered eclectism.
Someone once took the first volume of a two-volume set of Gib-
bon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" from that
unkept place of enchantment that was his store for many years on
lower Fannin. In a few days this want ad appeared in The Houston
Post:
"Will the person who took Vol. 1 of 'The Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire' from my store please come by and steal Vol. 2. I
can't sell one without the other, so he might as well have both."
Someone obliged him; two weeks later Vol. 2 was stolen.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/112/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.