Time-Life The Old West

One of my uncles used to have the Time-Life book series The Old West. I remember the brown leather (probably faux leather) covers, and the sheer bulk of the various topics – Cowboys, Gamblers, Scouts. Those of us who grew up in the pre-internet days remember how impressive the books collections were whether they were Time-Life, Popular Mechanics, Funk & Wagnalls, or even the sets of encyclopedias that used to line the shelves.

At the thrift stores (Value Village, and Salvation Army) I noticed that they usually had a few of the books so I started buying them when I got into Rules With No Name. Of the 27 books they printed and reprinted between 1973 and 1980, I have now bought 24 of them. Well, actually a few more than 24 as I have bought beat-up copies just to have them and better copies as I find them.
At the Children’s Hospital Book Sale on April 30, I got to the history table just in time to see someone else buy a stack of 10 books, containing at least three that I needed. Then last weekend at the Value Village I was quite excited to see a large group of the brown books. I was able to pick up 4 more books that I needed – 3 with some mild water damage on the bottom on the pages but I stored them near the dehumidifier and this cleared up .

This means that I now have all of the first 21 – The Cowboys through The Ranchers, am missing The Mexican War, have the next 3, and need the last 2 books – The End and The Myth, and Master Index. I do still need a better copy of The Spanish West which is split down the seam, and could get an even better version of The Canadians if I really wanted to be picky.
I had been getting a bit dismayed at not finding any books at all lately but these last few finds really made it close.

Books read January to April 2014

Jan
Warhammer Armies: The Empire (6th edition) by Alessio Cavatore
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Trailblazers by Bill Gilbert
Redshirts by John Scalzi
Extreme Pumpkin Carving by Vic Hood & Jack A Williams
Of Dice and Men by David M Ewalt
Thrice Told Tales by Catherine Lewis
Odd Men Out by Matt Betts
Dynamic Posing Guide: Modern Techniques for Digital Photographers by Craig Stidham with Jeanne Harris
Greg and Tim Hildebrandt the Tolkien Years by Gregory Hildebrandt Jr
Get Animated! Creating Professional Cartoon Animation on your Home Computer by Tim Maloney
Hellboy II – The Art of the Movie by Guillermo del Toro and Mike Mignola

Feb
Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (6th edition) by Alessio Cavatore
The Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt by Ian Summers
Nothin’ to Lose: The Making of Kiss 1972 – 1975 by Ken Sharp with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz From the story by L. Frank Baum Illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt

Mar
Tubes – A Journey to the Center of the Internet by Andrew Blum
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
Inventory by the Writers of the A.V. Club
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Great Chiefs by Benjamin Capps

Apr
Animating with Blender: How to Create Short Animations from Start to Finish by D. Roland Hess
Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide by DK Publishing
Time-Life Books: The Old West – The Rivermen by Paul O’Neil