THE MARCH OF THE BARBARIANS. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1940. Octavo, cloth. First edition, first printing with "FIRST EDITION" so stated on the copyright page. A presentation copy with signed inscription by Lamb on the half title page: "To Frank and Melba [Bennett] -- / Who have made so / many Christmases merry / Harold Lamb / This Christmas 1940." Beginning in 1932, the Bennetts and Mr, and Mrs. Philip L. Boyd owned the Deep Well Guest Ranch in Palm Springs, California. "Perhaps it wasn’t strictly a 'dude ranch,' but Deep Well Ranch delivered a strong dose of Western-flavored adventure for those who stayed there. In its heyday, the Ranch was a 'labor of love' for Frank and Melba Bennett. Both were Southern Californians, Melba being a sixth-generation Californian who came from a family who raised some of the most prized trotting horses in the country. Horses were her passion and activities for her guests were carefully planned around horseback riding and evening sitting around the camp fire. As time went on, the Ranch became a spot where the famous, nearly famous and just regular tourists came together to experience a Western-style adventure in the desert. Activities at the Ranch also included swimming and sunbathing around the pool. During the Great Depression, industrialists and other notable entrepreneurs came to the desert looking for fun in the sunshine and the Ranch amply provided the rich Western atmosphere portrayed primarily in cowboy films made in Hollywood and in the Palm Springs area that they craved." - Robert Louis Semes with Doree Goldstein and Mimi Fisher, "Ride 'em Cowboy: The Fascinating History of Deep Well Ranch." A clean, nearly fine copy in very good pictorial dust jacket with wear along top and bottom edges and several closed tears. (#155745).
Price: $250.00
First edition so stated on copyright page.