Courtesy/TCHS
TCHS News:
The Taos County Historical Society presents a free, public lecture “From Josiah Gregg to Edward Abbey – Book Trails across New Mexico” by Dr. David Farmer at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6 in the Kit Carson Electric Boardroom, 118 Cruz Alta Road in Taos.
This illustrated lecture is structured like a journey, with books, through the history and culture of New Mexico. The talk includes some background on the writers and also includes passages from writings by Josiah Gregg, Susan Magoffin, Leslie Silko,
M. Scott Momaday, Peggy Pond Church and others. Illustrations are coordinated to the writers and settings of the passages read by Farmer.
Farmer was born in Austin, Texas and raised on his family’s ranch near Fort McKavett in the Texas Hill Country. It was on the F5 Ranch that his mother taught him and his brothers before they went away to high school.
Early in his life, Farmer became more interested in books than in rounding up sheep, goats and cattle, so he set off for an academic career in rare books and teaching that took him to the University of Texas at Austin, SMU, and other universities.
In 2001
Farmer retired after 15 years as Director of DeGolyer Library at SMU where he was responsible for one of the major Western Americana libraries in the United States. He has lectured widely on books and collecting, and his extensive writings include Stanley Marcus, A Life With Books, published by Still Pint Press in Dallas and reprinted by TCU Press.
Farmer’s critical edition of D. H. Lawrence’s novel, Women in Love, was published by Cambridge University Press. His articles on printmakers have appeared in The Tamarind Papers as well as in Prints and Printmakers of Texas, (1997) and Paths to the Press, Printmaking and American Women Artists, 1910-1960 (2007).
For 14years he chaired the committee that selected the Clements Prize book for an annual award given by the Clements Center for Southwest Studies at SMU.
Dr. Farmer’s most recent book, Willard Clark – Printer and Printmaker (Abilene: Four-O Publishers) was republished in an expanded edition by the University of New Mexico Press in 2008. It explores the innovative work of a depression-era artist who created typographic style still identified with Santa Fe.
Farmer moved to Taos in 2001 with his wife Carol. He serves on the Board of Governors at the Harwood Museum of Art. His current project is a series of exhibitions to open next year on 150 years of printmaking in Taos.
For more information visit www.taoscountyhistoricalsociety.org.
