Riata and Spurs

This is the 1931 edition of Charlie Siringo's autobiography. It's written in a narrative style that runs like butter on a hot cob of corn, slowly and richly. The first edition was in 1927, and this reprinting appears to have the same 4, interesting photographs. Siringo is credited with having authored in 1885 the first authentic cowboy autobiography. It was a rehearsal for other narratives of his adventures and for this definitive work 42 years later when Siringo was 72. The cloth covers have dimmed but the edges have little wear. The title page has a clear-tape seam repair, but the binding throughout holds well. Two pages toward the end have tears suffered by the hurried slitting of pages that were apparently uncut during binding; the text is unaffected.

BONUS book: Charlie Siringo's West: An Interpretive Biography (U of New Mexico Press, 2005, first edition). Howard R. Lamar, 370 pp, 68 illustrations, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Hardback with dust cover. Like New. This biography of such a unique character makes him all the more interesting and remarkable for the comprehensive rounding up of so many facts with interpretive context.

A "riata" is a long, noosed rope, also known as a lariat, used for roping cattle and horses. A likeness appears with spurs on the cover of Charlie's life story. Both the autobiography and biography are available at modest prices, but for the books together, no price is more modest.