Doyle New York
Lot 140
GREY, ZANEThe Zane Grey collection of Elma and Karl Schwarz. Approximately 40 volumes, the majority inscribed and signed to Elma Schwarz, one of Zane Grey's secretaries, a cousin to his wife Dolly. The collection begins with Grey's first book, Betty Zane, published 1903 (this simply signed by Grey), and it ends with five works published in the 1940s and 1950s. Many are first editions; some are later. Grey died in 1929, and these least volumes are inscribed by his wife Dolly. Some of the inscriptions by Grey himself are quite terse, but many are prolix: "To Elma, with the good wishes of the author, and the hope that you will never forget beautiful Nonnezoshi, the Bridge of the Rainbow Trail" and "To Elma, who has ridden the flower-dotted slopes of Colorado and seen the columbines blow." Condition varies; many of the volumes are well-read but overall quite sound, though the bindings of the three that were issued in leather are quite badly deteriorated. A few have some relatively minor damp-damage.Grey was a singularly prolific writer, and he became America's first millionaire author. He popularized the Western genre, but he also wrote sporting stories, accounts of his hunting and fishing expeditions, and much else. When he traveled, his bevy of secretaries usually traveled with him. A charming 1914 photograph (taken in Kayenta, Arizona) shows secretaries Elma Schwarz, Polly Hunter, Claire Wilhelm, and Lillian Wilhelm Smith in a Navajo hogan on one of his many field trips. There seems to have been a romantic entanglement between Grey and Elma Schwarz, as with several of his secretaries, but the inscriptions in this collection also evince an enduring friendship.Though not comprehensive, the collection includes many scarce works inscribed, including Grey's two sporting novels The Young Pitcher and The Short-Stop, and a signed and dated copy of Riders of the Purple Sage.No condition report? Click below to request one. *Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, is an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact and Doyle New York shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. Please contact the specialist department to request further information or additional images that may be available.Request a condition report