2044

Pancho Villa Photo Diary w/RPPCs by Horne & Runyon Circa: Mexican Revolution 1910s [133775]

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:7,500.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
Pancho Villa Photo Diary w/RPPCs  by Horne & Runyon Circa: Mexican Revolution 1910s [133775]
UNCLAIMED MERCHANDISE: In the event that a successful bidder has paid in full for their merchandise but fails to settle outstanding shipping invoices or make arrangements for merchandise pickup within 60 days, HWAC reserves the right to declare the merchandise forfeited. This forfeiture will result in the merchandise becoming the property of HWAC and the successful bidder shall have no claim to or rights over the forfeited merchandise.
The primary feature of this lot is a massive and important collection of 184 real photo postcards (RPCs) and six 5 X 7 originals, most of which are directly attributable to Walter H. Horne, who made a good living for himself making photographic postcards in the American Southwest during the time of the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. Some cards are addressed to Horne's family members in Hallowell, Maine, and the handwriting is consistent across many of the annotated cards, thus indicating that this is part of Horne's personal collection of his postcards . A portion of the collection is another photo diary of many of the same events by Horne's contemporary, Robert Runyon.

Basing himself in El Paso, Texas, because of his health, Horne was not so much a journalist, but at the core, he was a business man who saw photography and the conflict south of the border to be opportunities to make money. He must have been a personable man, as he was able to photograph General Fransisco ("Pancho") Villa shortly after a successful battle in northern Mexico. He was also one of the first photographers to reach Columbus, New Mexico, within hours of the Villista raid into that community, and he followed Brigadier General John J. Pershing's 1916 Punitive Expedition as the United States Army attempted to capture Villa in northern Mexico. Here Horne records encampments, weapons, and new technology such as an observation balloon and Army biplanes.

Horne contact-printed tens of thousands of his photos direct from negatives onto ~3x5-inch postcards and sold them wholesale all over the country. His photo documentation of Pancho Villa's activity in the Mexican Revolution is gathered in this notebook of approximately 200 RPCs. It is amazing for revealing the gritty realism of the conflict and for the portrayal of the personal tragedies and triumphs experienced by so many.

Walter H. Horne died in El Paso at the age of 38 in 1921. His photographic legacy lives on through his images and has been incorporated in the telling and retelling of the events of the Mexican Revolution, and in particular of Pancho Villa.

Robert Runyon began photographing the Mexican Revolution near its start in 1913 at Matamoros. While Runyon was a contemporary of Horne's, he was his own man with his own schedule and interests. It is thus that his real photo post cards add another important element to the photographic record of the Mexican Revolution.

Several books are included in this lot: Border Fury, by Paul J. Vanderweed and Frank N. Samponaro, which includes a number of W.H. Horne images. Also included are Bloody Border, by Douglass V. Meed, and War Scare on the Rio Grande, by Frank N. Samponaro and Paul J. Vanderweed. The latter includes only images by Robert Runyan, a contemporary of W.H. Horne, but the authors specifically mention Horne's success in the photo postcard market of the period. Also included is a photo booklet Army Live - A Souvenir de Luxe of the Army in Mexico and on the Border. It is a photo journal of the 1916 Mexican Border Expedition. The photos have no attribution but are at least contemporary to the work of Walter Horne.

As assembled, this lot is an incredible collection of historic photographs from a tumultuous time in history along the U.S./Mexico border. [] [] [Mexico] [] []