The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951 Page: 303
544 p. : ill., ports., maps. (some col.) ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Reading Interests in Texas, 183o's to Civil War
Lives, Shakespeare's plays, Scott's Life of Napoleon, a life of
Putnam, Parley's Universal History, and Aesop's fables. The
teacher "started an emulation among young men to read in the
works of the greatest writers of our tongue"; when he complained
that there was no Euclid to be found in the neighborhood,
Kenney searched his father's library and found a copy. Describing
the "great sociability" of the Americans in San Antonio in 1841,
Mary A. Maverick says, "We had plenty of books, including
novels. ... "8
Travelers in Texas during the late 'forties and early 'fifties
found libraries in isolated homes. The Englishman, Edward
Smith, for example, makes the following list of books he saw in
the northeastern part of the state:9
At Peacock's in Titus county . a well-worn Bible, Dick's Philosophy
of a Future State, and Walker's Dictionary; at Bibion's, two hymn
books, a Primer, Everitt's Life of a Village Blacksmith, and a Digest
of the Laws of the State of Missouri; at Dr. Taylor's, Marshall county,
Clarke's Commentary, Wesley's works, and many excellent religious,
scientific, and literary books; and at Judge English's, a variety of
legal, classical, and literary works.
On a trip from San Antonio to Fredericksburg, John Russell
Bartlett discovered a "choice library" in the home of a German
settler on the Guadalupe River:1o
In chemistry and mineralogy, his collection was particularly rich;
and even in the other departments of natural science, as well as
history, voyages, and travels, it would have been a very respectable
one in our large cities. ...
Before the 'forties a wide variety of books had not been avail-
able at the stores. Newton and Gambrell state that "A few
arithmetics, spellers, readers, almanacs, three medical books, and
three other volumes constituted the book purchases of a leading
store in 1833." A "Circulating Library, Book, Stationery, and
Fancy Store" was opened to the public in Houston in 1839;
Henry F. Byrne and Company advertised in the Telegraph and
Texas Register for June 19:
sRena Maverick Green (ed.), Memoirs of Mary A. Maverick (San Antonio, ig92),
56.
9Edward Smith, Account of a Journey Through North-Eastern Texas (London,
1849), 75-76.
loJohn Russell Bartlett, Personal Narrative of Explorations and Incidents in
Texas (New York, 1854), 54.303
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951, periodical, 1951; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101133/m1/415/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.