A superb and scandalous association copy of the 1918 Grosset & Dunlap edition of Last of the Scouts awkwardly connecting the founder of the Buffalo Bill Museum directly to the Gilded Age financier at the center of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody’s most sensational scandal.
The pastedown bears the bookplate of Howard Gould, and the ffep is inscribed "Good wishes of the author's daughter, Mary Jester Allan. ***** - Buffalo Bill Museum - Cody - Wyoming."
The inscription and bookplate together tell the story. Mary Jester Allen was Buffalo Bill’s niece and the driving force behind establishing the original Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming, in 1927. Serving as its long-term first curator, she devoted her career to safeguarding her uncle's legacy and distributing inscribed commemorative materials to prominent figures and patrons.
The question is, why did Howard Gould visit the Museum? Gould, a financier and son of railroad tycoon Jay Gould, had been married to the aspiring actress Viola Katherine Clemmons. Before and during her marriage to Gould, Clemmons maintained a long-standing, lavishly funded relationship with Buffalo Bill, who financed her theatrical career and bought plays for her. The affair led to a high-profile legal battle when Buffalo Bill attempted to divorce his own wife, Louisa, in 1904–1905, during which details of his intimacy with Clemmons were aired publicly. Later, during the explosive 1909 divorce proceedings between Howard Gould and Clemmons, Gould explicitly accused his wife of committing adultery with Buffalo Bill.
The official presentation copy signed by Buffalo Bill’s niece and museum director, and housed in the personal library of the very man whose marriage was shattered by Cody’s romantic indiscretions . . .well, that makes this a truly unusual little historical artifact.
Accompanied by an original half sheet, folded broadside describing The Cody Pioneer Center which appears to do date somewhat later, perhaps the 50's or so.
[Buffalo Bill] Wetmore, Helen Code; and Zane Grey. Last of the Scouts. The Life Story of "Buffalo Bill." New York. Grosset & Dunlap. 1918. 333pp.
Very good. Dustjacket with some small losses and tears, neatly preserved in an archival sleeve. Cloth near fine, and textually exceptionally crisp and clean.
