Description: Unpublished Typescript Novel Set in Old New Mexico by a Journalist and Member of Literary Circles in Taos Author: Watson, Ruth Title: Unpublished Typescript Novel Set in Old New Mexico by a Journalist and Member of Literary Circles in Taos Publication: 1930s Description: Unbound typescript, 8.5 x 11", 211 pp (60,000 words), titled "American Conquest." The typescript is accompanied by post cards acknowledging its receipt by Macmillan Company (1937), Sanders and Conroy (1937), and Covici, Friede, Inc. (1937). Also included is a one-page bibliography of New Mexico and Southwest history sources used as research for the book. An unpublished novel by Ruth Watson, a young woman living in Taos, New Mexico in the late 1930s. Watson wrote a regular column in the Santa Fe New Mexican, titled "Taos Tom-Tom," reporting on the social, cultural, and artistic happenings in Taos, including much relating to the Taos arts and literary colonies. Through her column, we can glean much about Ruth: she lived in Taos with her aunt Clara Sanborn in a house on Beimer Circle; she had a poem published in the May, 1939 issue of Digest Magazine, edited by Randall Henderson who was also the editor of the Southwest themed "Desert Magazine;" in 1939, she wrote an article on author Helen Hoogendyk, expressing her admiration of the woman's accomplishments in the opening sentence: "no one woman could have been to so many places, done so many things, known so many famous people!" Watson's column also reveals that she herself was an active participant in the social goings-on of Taos' art and literary colonies, as she mentions hosting and taking part in events (teas, dinners, holiday parties, etc) also attended by famous Taos artists and writers including novelist Frank Waters, artist Bert Geer Phillips, poet/printer Spud Johnson, writer/teacher Victor F. White, and many others.The novel itself is set in the old Southwest following Stephen Watts Kearny's 1840s conquest of the region that is today New Mexico. The plot centers around an American soldier's love for a beautiful half American, half Mexican woman during the turmoil of insurrection caused by Mexican rebels. Much of the novel takes the perspective of the old Mexican families in the region, exploring their way of life and their anxieties about living under American rule. Although the text still trades in the stereotypes of the era, and portrays a romanticized notion of the old Mexican homesteads, its detailed passages outlining the historical timeline and rich descriptions of Mexican culinary traditions, together with the included bibliography, show that Watson at least attempted to accurately portray the lives of the inhabitants of the region. For instance, a description of a "Fiesta" held at a Rancheria reads as follows:"These two days and nights of gay recreation were the accepted reward for work well done within its boundaries. The last of the chili, mottled in brilliant green and red hues, had been strung by the women of the rancheria and, hung in great long rows from the flat roofs of the adobes to season, would soon turn a uniform scarlet. Many ristras of this indispensable condiment had been made, being pierced and strung on heavy, thick cords. Hanging in packed rows in the bright sun against the dull brown and cream of the adobes, they looked not unlike necklaces of scarlet gems upon a smooth flawless throat. The wine had been set to ferment in the great copper vats...Great heavy strings of onions, garlic, squash and corn had been carefully tied to the thick vigas in the store rooms against the coming winter... "Meanwhile, the rest of the novel, with its descriptions of constant conflict and animosity among the Americans, Native Americans, and Mexicans in the region, exhibits a trait common to much of New Mexican literature identified by David L Caffey in "Land of Enchantment, Land of Conflict New Mexico in English-language Fiction"--"New Mexico offers the writer a varied landscape, a mosaic of cultures, and a colorful history, but conflict, necessary for fiction, is also found in cultural differences, opposing views on land and water use, and conflicting values concerning individual freedom and social restraint..."Overall in very good condition, pages toned and slightly brittle. Seller ID: 8123 Subject: Western Americana, Women Caroliniana Rare Books Antiquarian and collectible books, primitives and antiques. Terms All orders ship within two business days. All items are guaranteed to be as described or they may be returned within 30 days of receipt for a full refund.This listing was created by Bibliopolis.
Price: 900 USD
Location: Aiken, South Carolina
End Time: 2025-01-06T02:17:20.000Z
Shipping Cost: 11.5 USD
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Item must be returned within: 14 Days
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Signed: No
Year: 1930
