Lusher chose Heritage because he hoped these treasures would remain in his home state and, indeed, most of this collection found new homes throughout Texas. “The auction confirms exactly what I thought about this special place we call Texas,” says Lusher, a Kansas City native who has long called Austin home, where much of his collection has been displayed at the Bullock Texas State History Museum. “It underscores the fact that people do have a respect for those who came before, and there is a commitment to learn about and carry on their history and knowledge.”
Collectors also vied for Austin’s 1846 Map of Texas, the most complete version of the general’s legendary map, as it was the final edition to contain geographical revisions. The map that realized $118,750 was the first – and only – edition issued after Texas’ statehood and remains among the most authoritative primary documents recording the history of Texas. All of Austin’s maps, rich in detail and accurate where so many others were imprecise, were so popular their buyers heavily used them, hence the reason all editions are now rare, chief among them this masterwork, where the state’s oft-foreboding landscape was shown to be “as inviting as possible,” notes the catalog.
Thomas Gay’s March 1836 broadside announcing the fall of the Alamo was another of the auction’s top lots, a document informing Texians that the Alamo had fallen. Gay wrote to the people of Texas: “I have just received information by Col. William T. Austin of the fall of the Alimo [sic].” Lusher believes this is the sole surviving copy in private hands of the broadsheet, and it too will stay in Texas.
