Dating Prehistoric Ruins by Tree Rings (Pamphlet)

Description

Author: Stallings, W.S., Jr. (William Sidney) (1910-after 1977)

Publisher: 1939 edition: Laboratory of Anthropology (Santa Fe, NM); 1949 and 1960 editions: The Tree-Ring Society and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research (Tucson, AZ)

Pub Date: 1939 (First edition), 1949 and 1960 (Reprint editions)

Binding: Paperback

Condition: Copy 1 (LC21): 1939 edition.  Fair.  Stapled binding tight.  No tears, bends or folds.  Previous owner’s name on upper front cover corner.  Lower front cover corner worn, slightly bent but that bend extends through the whole volume (dropped), with an approx. 1/2″ bend on rear cover.  Inscribed by the author to previous owner on title page.  Slight edge wear.  Copy 2 (LC21): 1949 edition.  Fair.  Stapled binding tight.  No tears, folds.  Previous owner’s name on upper front cover corner.  Author’s name hand-written in pencil on cover below title (written by the author).  Lower front cover corner has an approx. 1/2″ bend, extends through entire volume.  Lower front cover corner at spine foot has an approx. 1/4″ bend, extends through entire volume (dropped twice?).  Edge and corner wear.  Copy 3 (LLL):  1949 edition.  Fair.  Stapled binding tight.  No marks, tears, folds.  Lower front cover corner at spine foot has an approx. 1″ bend, extends through entire volume.  Edge and corner wear.  Copy 4 (LC21): 1960 edition.  Fair.  Stapled binding tight.  No marks, tears, bends or folds.  Light edge and corner wear.

Notes: Laboratory of Anthropology General Series, Bulletin No. Eight.  Basic tree ring analysis.  “”In temperate regions of the earth the normal growing season is from spring into fall.  The ring formed during this time normally consists of two parts: a light-colored inner part, called springwood, and a dark-colored outer part, called summerwood.” (Page 4).  It’s interesting to see the evolution of this pamphlet from the original 1939 edition, with its stiff paper covers overlapping the text block, which continues into the 1949 reprint, to the 1960 edition where the overlapping covers are gone and the cover is decorative (see photos).  Both the 1939 and 1949 editions (Copy 1 and 2) are from the library of the late anthropologist John Otis Brew, his signature on upper front cover corner.  Stallings inscribed the 1939 edition to Brew.  Stallings himself wrote his name on the cover of the 1949 edition (Copy 2).  Stallings worked as a dendrochronologist at the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe until World War II, when he joined the service.  After his service in the war, Stallings joined the Central Intelligence Agency as a photo analyst.  His group helped identify the Russian missiles being shipped to Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.