Western Round Up

In his later years Henry Valley was finding work illustrating stories in Zane Grey's Western Magazine, but he was by no means unfamiliar with the genre. Two-Gun Montana, Tom Mix and the Hoard of Montezuma and The Lone Ranger Follows Through were just a few of the Big Little Books his artwork accompanied in the late 1930's and early 1940's. His work for Zane Grey was generally two drawing per 7½" x 5¼" page, with a slightly larger image for the splash. The level of detail for these illustrations was greater than that found in his Big Little work, but not as embellished as his drawings for Whitman's Authorized Editions. Both of the above pieces are from 1947. The top one illustrated Carl Smith's Tom Rynning's Long Ride from Vol. 1, No. 2. The bottom one illustrated Smith's Uncle Billy and the Doolin Gang from Vol. 1, No. 4.