RARE 1901 Alexandre's Compendium of Facts about Oklahoma City, Indian Territory,

Description: This listing is for an exceptionally rare original copy of the Holy Grail of Oklahoma Territory and Oklahoma City history; Philip L. Alexandre's April, 1901 Compendium of Facts about Oklahoma City in detail, Oklahoma Territory in general and Kiowa & Comanche Country in particular (208 numbered pages and 40 pictures, the book measures 3.5"x6"x.75"). It's hard to overstate how significant and rare this artifact is; besides a copy held by the Library of Congress which they digitized a decade ago (minus the important map) I know of no other intact copies, the closest I've seen was just a singular framed copy of the 17" by 22" "Sectional Map of the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Wichitas Reservation" land taken from the front of a lost book which alone sold for the better part of $1000 some time ago. It is rubber-stamped in several locations "Perry and Dowden Real Estate & Immigrant Agents 200 Grand Avenue Oklahoma City" which I presume was the retail location where this book was sold. This copy has no missing pages and albeit delicate the binding is sound and the covers are firmly attached. The front page upon which the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Wichitas Reservation map was pasted is detached but all present. The map is torn as shown in the images but can be easily restored. The first page with copyright information states that the book was printed in April, 1901 by the Times-Journal Publishing Co. of Oklahoma City, and the map itself was engraved and printed by the Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Co of Kansas City, MO., which judging from Mr. Alexandre's amusing editorializing probably pained him greatly because to him the patronage of local businesses was basically the sacred patriotic duty of every Oklahoma Pioneer! Back when this book was published Oklahoma City had a population of only about 14,000 souls, 1/100th the present population, and Mr. Alexandre showed great foresight when stating in his introduction: "My three objects in publishing this book are: First, for personal gain; secondly, to perpetuate and place on record in other cities in a convenient and lasting form the wonderful story of a twelve year old Oklahoma City. In years to come this little book will be of interest to those who were doing business in Oklahoma City January 1, 1901; it will be of interest to thousands who will be here in after years. Thirdly, to advertise my adopted city and bring capital here to be used in manufacturing more than we do." The whole book is written in this amusing and earnest style, it really is a fascinating embodiment of the pioneering spirit at the dawn of the 20th century when there were still virgin untilled lands to tame, without much thought given to whether or not those lands rightfully belonged to or ought to remain in the possession of the Native American Nations already living there. Indeed, a primary purpose of the book was to furnish information to those flooding into Oklahoma Territory to claim a share of the ~1,600,000 acres of Indian Reservation land that was being opened to settlers 1 year after June 6, 1900 when Congress ratified a treaty with the Kiowa and Apache to open their lands. Mr. Alexandre estimated that 8,000 quarter sections of good farm and grazing lands would soon be available, and I'm sure that since he published in April ahead of the opening in June 1901 that copies of this book were in the hands of at least a few of those settlers. Most of those copies would have been discarded after they served their purpose and the information became obsolete and outdated a few years into the 1900s, so now 123 years later only a select few remain in existence with this copy being the first and only that has ever been offered on eBay. Condition is as shown in the photos, binding is good, some wear to covers, no loose pages beside the page attached to the folded map and no missing pages. It will be very safely packed and shipping will be via USPS Priority Mail, feel free to contact with any questions.

Price: 3795 USD

Location: Laramie, Wyoming

End Time: 2025-01-13T03:39:36.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD