Bibliophemera

Ramon F. Adams was a prolific author, bibliographer and lexicographer on the subject of cowboys, range life, and the American West. The "idiot printer" is Bill Wittliff (he wrote it, not me! see below), whose Encino Press published this piece shown below in 1967. Mr. Wittliff's inscribed bit of self-deprecating humor graces the backside of a piece of printed ephemera from my recent acquisition of Wittliff/Encino Press material. Why Wittliff refers to himself this way, I'm not sure. An inside joke peraps, or just his sense of humor. Whatever, I'm glad he added this personal touch. It made me smile. I know it's his writing because all the other pieces in the batch of his epehemera I obtained have his handwriting in either initials or signed inscriptions. This appears to be a mock-up or announcement of some sort for the forthcoming book by Ramon F. Adams : A Cowman & His Philosophy . The Ramon Adams Collection at the Texas/Dallas History and Archives, Dall...

Back to my small collection of William D. Wittliff ephemera (started with this post ), here is a piece published by Wittliff's Encino Press in 1966. It's a four-page brochure, for lack of a better description, that presents a two-page letter written by Frank James, brother of the infamous outlaw, Jesse James. Most everyone has at least heard of Jesse James. Frank was Jesse's older brother. Together, and with other members of their gang, they robbed banks, stage coaches, and murdered. After Jesse was murdered himself, Frank turned himself in and was acquitted at a trial for murder. He went straight afterward, working in a variety of jobs, including shoe salesman, ticket taker at a theater, and telegraph operator. He later made money off his criminal past with lectures and tours of his farm that included the grave of Jesse James, who had become a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death. The most interesting thing I read about Frank James came from the Wikipedia page...

I recently purchased a batch of ephemera having to do with William D. (Bill) Wittliff and his Encino Press in Austin, Texas--pieces he designed and printed. Several pieces seem a good fit for the content of this blog, so the book-related ones will be featured here during the next week or so. Up first, The Collectors' Institute . This is a program designed by Bill Wittliff for the Second Annual Meeting of the Collectors' Institute. Wittliff signed (initialed) the back of the program. I had never heard of this group before, so I did a little research to see what it was exactly and what became of it (assuming it is no longer around). The Handbook of Texas Online has an article on the Collectors' Institute (the link above), submitted by the former (and only) president of the Collectors' Institute, Jenkins Garrett. There, I learned that the Collectors' Institute existed from 1968 to 1980. It was, writes Garrett, "a private association of collectors of library mater...