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Carl, Prince of Solms-Braunfels. Texas, 1844 -1845. The Anson Jones Press, 1936.

Price: US$375.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: TEXAS, 1844 ? 1845, Carl, Prince of Solms-Braunfels, hardcover, stated first edition in English, limited to 750 (without specific number assigned to this copy), illustrated with several maps and engravings of settlements, along with portrait of Carl, 1936. BOOK CONDITION: very good. The text block and illustrations are in fine condition, with no tears, dogears, or marks. The pages are age-toned. No signature or bookplate of a prior owner. Not a library book or remainder. The blue cloth boards are in good condition (lightly bumped corners and spine, shelf wear on edges, minor scratch on front). 10 ¾ x 7 ¾, 143 pages, 25 ounces XX [Publisher?s foreword] The Texas sojourn of His Highness, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels in 1844 had many paradoxical aspects. This young German nobleman (he was thirty-three) was an officer in the service of Austria, but his embryonic buffer state served England's interests most of all. He was a devout Roman Catholic, but he founded a Protestant settlement. Prince, snob and cousin to Queen Victoria, he led a group who were willing to face the hazards of a new world to escape royalty and snobbery. He was a man of great ability, but mismanagement by his predecessors made success of his project doubtful before it ever started. Annexation [to the United States of America], which he bitterly opposed, made it impossible. It is not surprising that, at the time, so out-spoken a book did not appear in English, yet never a man tried to write so candidly, so objectively. This contemporary translation seems to us to have retained much of the flavor of the original, and it is presented with a minimum of editing, preserving its varied spellings and its frequent contradictions. [Wikipedia] During his service with the cavalry, Carl read books about Texas and became interested in joining the Adelsverein. Appointed its commissioner general in 1844, he was the motivating force for the first colony of German emigrants to Texas. He arrived on Texas soil in July 1844, making an exploratory tour as advisor to the Adelsverein, which owned the rights to the Fisher-Miller Land Grant. Subsequently, Carl purchased an additional 1,300 acres (5.3 km2) on the Guadalupe River on behalf of the Adelsverein, where he established the colony of New Braunfels, Texas. His vision cleared the path for John O. Meusebach to follow in 1845 as the organizer, negotiator, and political force needed for community-building structure in the New Germany. In anticipation of his marriage to Maria Josephine Sophie, Prince Solms formed plans to build Sophie's Castle, laying the cornerstone in New Braunfels in 1845. Sophie refused to leave Germany, and Carl never returned to Texas after his 3 December 1845 marriage to her.

Seller: Whitledge Books, Austin, TX, U.S.A.

CARL, Prince of Solms-Braunfels. Texas, 1844 - 1845. Anson Jones, Houston, 1936.

Price: US$400.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: Translated from the German. frontispiece portrait and 3 other illustrations; 4 maps and plans (two bound at rear and two on one sheet laid in, as issued). 144 pages. Slim 4to, blue cloth. Houston: Anson Jones Press, 1936. Limited edition. Upper corners bumped, but still a very good clean copy with mostly un-opened pages (some pages at rear with chipping/tearing in margins from careless opening). One of 750 copies of this first edition in English, this copy un-numbered. Written by a German nobleman to provide information to his fellow countrymen who were planning to emigrate. Raines p. 42.

Seller: Argosy Book Store, ABAA, ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.