For a 115-Year-Old Book Featuring 88 Photos of a Very Young Dallas, It's Quite the Bargain

Glad to see yesterday's eBay offering landed in the right hands: The folks at Dallas Market Center send word this morning that they purchased John and Storey Stemmons's Christmas pamphlet, and that it "will find a permanent home here in the historical archives of Dallas Market Center and Crow Holdings."...

By Robert Wilonsky

December 21, 2010

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Glad to see yesterday's eBay offering landed in the right hands: The folks at Dallas Market Center send word this morning that they purchased John and Storey Stemmons's Christmas pamphlet, and that it "will find a permanent home here in the historical archives of Dallas Market Center and Crow Holdings." Now, then, on to today's gift-giving suggestion for the historian in your house, which dates back a little further -- to 1895.

That's when W. H. Parrish Publishing Company published Art Work of Dallas, Tex., a copy of which resides in the Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division at the downtown library. It's quite the thing: a 12-volume collection consisting of 88 photos of Dallas way back when -- everything from street scenes to shots of downtown buildings to look-sees at the likes of Philip Sanger and W.H. Abrams's homes, the Queen City R.R. Car House and the Oak Cliff College for Young Ladies. Says the Abilene-based seller of this item, presently sitting at $99.99 with no bids: "This is an amazing historical resource that provides a rare glimpse into the early days of this vibrant city!"

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