Six-Guns & Saddle Leather. A Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets on Western Outlaws and Gunmen

University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, first edition, 1954. Cloth, 8vo,. xiii, 426 pp, ills. From the blurb: "In no field are fact and legend more difficult to distinguish than in Western Americana…Ramon F. Adams has done much more in this book than provide a bibliography of materials concerning outlaws and gunmen. He has examined variant renderings of stories which have become classics of Western Americana, such as those about Billy the Kid, Joaquin Murieta, and Wild Bill Hickok. As a collector, he has unearthed rare and curious volumes; as a bibliographer, he gives valuable descriptions of 1,132 titles in first edition, to many of which he adds notes on subsequent reprintings. His principal contribution to the records of early pioneer days, however, arc his annotations, which represent research in original sources and help to distinguish the often thin line in this field between fact and fancy. The entries are arranged alphabetically by authors, and there is a complete index of titles and subjects. The author is the first to admit that this list cannot be considered complete, and that it reflects both the highways and the byways in the bibliographical search for materials relevant to his subject. Some titles are included because of their status among collectors as rarities; many appear because of their great and reliable historical value; others have called forth the compiler's indignant astonishment that "so much false and garbled history could have found its way into print. Small stain to fore-edge, minor dent to fore-edge of front board, otherwise Good in used and price-clipped dustwrapper.