The E-Sylum:  Volume 3, Number 50, December 3, 2000, Article 6

MORE ON THE 1850 ECKFELDT-DUBOIS 

   George Kolbe writes: "I can add two more colors to Dave 
   Bowers' 1850 Eckfeldt-Du Bois palette, namely, black and 
   white. In my admittedly limited experience, black and blue 
   turn up most often, then red, and, rarely, white. The printing 
   must have been large, though many copies have surely perished, 
   and many appear to have been vandalized (i.e., the gold 
   samples have been removed). 

   I first met John J. Ford, Jr. over an enjoyable breakfast at the 
   old Statler Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles (probably in June 1977) 
   and recall that this book, and the binding colors, were among 
   the topics discussed. 

   Several years a ago a stunning copy of the 1850 Eckfeldt- 
   Du Bois came up for sale in Los Angeles, at an auction by Austin, 
   Texas bookseller Dorothy Sloan (herself stunning) of Henry 
   Clifford's "Zamorano 80" and other Western Americana holdings. 
   It was a superb, "blazing" royal blue copy, inscribed to "J. B. 
   Longacre with the respects of the authors, Feby 1850." 

   I attended the sale, intending to bid on this and several other lots, 

   but I never got a chance to raise my hand when the volume in 
   question came up for sale. Estimated at $2,500-$4,500, it 
   opened at low estimate and bids were rapidly batted back and 
   forth between the "book" (I believe) and a floor bidder, who 
   eventually prevailed at $5,100. I should'a been willing to pay 
   more - the mournful refrain of the unsuccessful bidder." 

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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