Books with author Gill James

Taken from the preface: "The horse is not appreciated and never will be appreciated enough,-few humans, even them that works him, really know him, but then there's so much to know about him. I've wrote this whole book on only one horse and when I first started it I was afraid I'd run out of something to write, but I wasn't half thru when I begin to realize I had to do some squeezing to get the things in I wanted; and when I come to the last chapter was when I seen how if I spent my life writing on the horse alone and lived to be a hundred I'd only said maybe half of what I feel ought to be said". Will James III

This is not a print on demand or facsimile copy. It is a hardcover book published by Charles Scribner's Son New York in 1937. The First Edition has a "A" on the copyright page along with the Scribner seal (colophon). There are several color plates and black and white illustrations by the author. The stories are arranged from the first chapters of the "Lone Cowboy." Will James revives the scenes, people, and customs of the turn-of-the-century American West. Today regarded as a fictionalized autobiography, Lone Cowboy follows the character of James the cowboy as boy.

First published in 1933. This reprint is part of a series making an American treasure available to a new generation of readers. James, born in 1892, left home as a teenager to live out his dream of becoming a cowboy in the American West. He later wrote and illustrated books and numerous magazine articles about horses, cowboying, and the West. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Without pulling a single six-gun, fanning a trigger, or using any other stock device of Western fiction, Will James tells the story of life on the Seven X Ranch during the early 1900s. This authentic portrait of a ranching family details their dangerous work, their dreams and aspirations, and the rugged land they lived in. From the 1935 Kirkus review: "An intimate picture of ranch life as it still exists, and only secondarily a novel. Homespun story of the beginnings and growth of a large ranch, -- of Old John who turns the management over to his son, of the daughter who finds ranch life much more educational than school, of tourists and campers and dudes. Has the colloquial note of authenticity characteristic of Will James and his illustrations as always add tremendously to the charm of his text." Will James (1892 - 1942) was a French Canadian artist and writer of the American West. He is known for writing Smoky the Cowhorse, for which he won the 1927 Newbery Medal, and numerous "cowboy" stories for adults and children. His artwork, which predominantly involved cowboy and rodeo scenes, followed "in the tradition of Charles Russell", and much of it was used to illustrate his books. In 1992, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Sun Up: Tales of the Cow Camps written by Will James in 1931 is a fine collection of sixteen cowboy stories, including some of James' best stories from his previous work along with seven original stories. All are accompanied by the author's lively illustrations. Here are tales of cowboys growing up, learning the ropes, proving their mettle, even falling in love, each told in the inimitable, colorful style of Will James.