MEMORIALS OF GEORGE FISHER, LATE SECRETARY TO THE EXPEDITION OF GEN. JOSE ANTONIO MEXIA, AGAINST TAMPICO, IN NOVEMBER, 1835. PRESENTED TO THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CONGRESSES OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, PRAYING FOR RELIEF IN FAVOR OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SAID EXPEDITION

Fisher, George

Verlag: Printed at the Telegraph Office, Houston, 1840

6,[2],87,[1],7pp. plus two folding quarto- sized leaves of correspondence bound in at rear. Contemporary brown cloth. Worn at spine ends, cloth very lightly stained and rubbed. Ex-library, a duplicate from the Coe Collection at Yale, with bookplate on rear pastedown. Front hinge weak. Leaves of main section of text tanned and foxed with a few spots of soiling. Occasional marginal annotations in pencil. Modern bookplate to recto of final free endpaper. About very good. In a cloth chemise and half morocco and cloth slipcase, spine gilt. A presentation copy, inscribed by Fisher "To Christopher Fallon, Esq. of Philadelphia, Penn." in 1858, as is usually the case (see Streeter). Fisher has further marked this copy by making an index of the contents of the front free endpaper titled "Index to Special Reading." As with many of the copies inscribed by Fisher in 1858, the present copy also includes a printed biographical sketch of the author bound in at the front as well as reprints of two newspaper articles and two folded leaves of printed correspondence bound in at the rear. Streeter notes that some, but not all, of the 1858 presentation copies contain this additional printed material. One of the most important contemporary accounts of the Texan and Louisianian attack on Tampico, compiled by George Fisher, who participated in the events. As such, it is still probably the only firsthand account of this expedition. In the fall of 1835, the Committee on Texan Affairs at New Orleans outfitted a schooner for an attack on Tampico. The leader of the expedition was General Jose Antonio Mexia, who had deserted Santa Anna, with George Fisher serving as the group's secretary. The schooner was grounded in a storm off Tampico, and after a few skirmishes, Mexia and most of his force escaped, though twenty-eight of the invaders were captured and executed. In this memorial Fisher, a Hungarian by birth, gathers documents in support of the claim that the invasion was supported by leaders in Texas. Included is correspondence with General Cos, Fisher's address to the citizens of New Orleans in favor of the Texas Revolution, letters between Fisher and Stephen F. Austin, letters between Fisher and Mexia, the Declaration of the General Council of the Texan Provisional Government, muster rolls of the troops with details of the killed and wounded, and much more. "These MEMORIALS of Fisher's are a full and contemporaneous account of an episode in Texas history that just missed being one of its important events. If the Tampico Expedition from New Orleans in November, 1835, had gained its objective, the course of Texas history would have been changed and its leader, Mexia, and its secretary, Fisher, would have been Texas heroes" - Streeter. "Throughout the long and doubtful struggle, [Fisher] fought for Texas both with his sword and his pen, proving himself an adept with either weapon.One of the foundation documents of Texas history" - Eberstadt. "An excessively rare narrative of the expedition against Tampico, of the greatest importance to an understanding of the Texas Revolution.[and] a rare Houston imprint" - Littell sale catalogue. The present copy and another offered by Dorothy Sloan in 2001 are the only copies to appear at auction since the Littell sale in 1945, according to Rare Book Hub. STREETER TEXAS 384. HOWES F151, "b." GRAFF, FIFTY TEXAS RARITIES 22. EBERSTADT 105:292a. GRAFF 1329. RAINES, p.82. SABIN 24460. JONES CHECKLIST 1035. LITTELL SALE 355. BRAISLIN SALE 724. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers WRCAM63246

Bibliografische Details

Titel: MEMORIALS OF GEORGE FISHER, LATE SECRETARY ...
Verlag: Printed at the Telegraph Office, Houston
Erscheinungsdatum: 1840