JOHN HENRY KIRBY: PRINCE OF PINES.
Austin: The Encino Press, 1967. xv,203pp. Frontis. portrait. Selected bibliography. First edition, limited edition of 150 copies. SIGNED by the designer (William Wittliff) and the author. Book is a fine copy. The slipcase shows some fading to perimeter, overall very good. John Henry Kirby was a business man whose timber ventures made him the largest lumber manufacturer in Texas and the southern United States. He would serve two terms in the Texas Legislature and in 1921, established the Kirby Petroleum Company, a Houston based oil and gas exploration company. For his business acumen he would be known as the “Prince of Pines” and the “Father of Industrial Texas.” Kirby Drive in Houston is named after him. This is one of the best and most important Texas business histories. Most of this edition was destroyed by a warehouse fire in 1968 making it one of the rarest Encino Press books.