[TEXAS PICTORIAL LETTERSHEET]. THIELEPAPE, Wilhelm Carl August (1814-1904), lithographer. Main Plaza. San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio: W. C. A. Thielpape, [ca 1855].

4to (247 x 192 mm). With 2pp. autograph letter in French from Alphonse Portanery to his parents, San Antonio, 5 April 1856; morocco-backed slipcase. (Creased, a few tiny spots or stains.) Provenance: Acquired Dorothy Sloan (26 September 2007, lot 242).

Though there are many known examples of 19th-century lettersheets from California, only a few are known from Texas. With a vignette engraved by Wilhelm Carl August Thielpape, who would be elected the Reconstruction Mayor of San Antonio in 1867. During his tenure, he built bridges, laid macadam streets, and strengthened the public schools. He later moved to Chicago to work as an attorney, participating in the building boom that followed the Great Chicago Fire.

The letter from Portanery indicates that there has been some delay in his response, and he discusses his recent marriage and the problems and opportunities it has caused. He states that his wife says she will never go to France, and discusses the complicated familial relationships and the role his in-laws play in deciding whether he will have property and whether they will help them financially. He reports that he is basically happy, and that he has a newborn who resembles him. He concludes that everyone in Texas lives a solitary life, like wolves.

Property from the Collection of Dr. Brant Mittler