Selling Stanley Crawford Books in Albuquerque
Mayordomo, Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine, A Garlic Testament, and the Dixon acequia-era estate shelf
Stanley Crawford · 1937–
Stanley Crawford is the Dixon, New Mexico garlic farmer, acequia mayordomo, and experimental-prose novelist whose 1988 UNM Press Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico is the single most important acequia book ever written, and whose 1972 Knopf Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine is a cult-favorite postmodern novel rediscovered by Dalkey Archive. Two completely different readerships — the experimental-fiction crowd and the acequia-politics / land-grant readership — converge on the same author. Crawford has lived on El Bosque Garlic Farm in the Embudo Valley since 1969. His signature pool remains open; he still signs at Santa Fe and Taos bookstore events occasionally.
Last verified May 2026 · Original research by Josh Eldred
Pillar Contents
Why collect Stanley Crawford
Because Crawford occupies two non-overlapping collector niches at once — experimental postmodern fiction (Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine sits alongside Barthelme, Gass, and Pynchon on avant-garde shelves) and acequia / northern NM land-use literature (Mayordomo sits alongside William deBuys's Enchantment and Exploitation and Alvar Carlson's The Spanish American Homeland on regional-history shelves). That dual readership means Crawford estates appear in two kinds of Albuquerque, Dixon, Santa Fe, and Taos households: UNM English-department faculty estates and working acequia-farmer estates. The 1972 Knopf Log first is the collector's trophy; the 1988 UNM Press Mayordomo is the acequia household's essential reference.
Stanley Crawford — first editions by year
Gascoyne
1966 · G.P. Putnam's SonsFirst novel. Scarce in jacket.
Travel Notes
1967 · Alfred A. KnopfExperimental second novel.
Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine
1972 · Alfred A. KnopfThe cult experimental novel. Dalkey Archive reissued in 2008. 1972 Knopf firsts in jacket are genuinely scarce and carry the strongest premium in the Crawford corpus.
Some Instructions to My Wife...
1978 · Alfred A. KnopfSatirical domestic-instructions novel.
Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico
1988 · University of New Mexico PressThe acequia book. First edition in jacket is essential for the regional shelf. Signed copies are common.
A Garlic Testament: Seasons on a Small New Mexico Farm
1992 · HarperCollinsCompanion to Mayordomo — the seasonal-farm memoir. 1992 HarperCollins first.
The River in Winter: New and Selected Essays
2003 · University of New Mexico PressUNM Press essay collection.
Petroleum Man
2005 · Overlook PressNovel. The return to fiction.
The Canyon
2015 · University of New Mexico PressLate UNM Press novel.
Estate-shelf fingerprint
The Crawford shelf arrives in two distinct Albuquerque and northern NM estate profiles. The experimental-fiction profile is usually a UNM English department faculty estate, a book-collector estate tilted toward the 1970s postmodern canon, or a fine-press aficionado — these estates have the 1972 Knopf Log in jacket, often signed, and usually paired with Barthelme, Gass, Federman, and Coover. The acequia profile is the Dixon, Embudo, Velarde, Chimayó, Truchas, and northern-NM land-grant household — these estates have Mayordomo and A Garlic Testament but usually not the earlier novels, and are often paired with deBuys, Marc Simmons, Fray Angélico Chávez, V.B. Price's Orphaned Land, and UNM Press acequia monographs.
Pricing & condition notes
1972 Knopf Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine first editions in jacket are the tentpole piece and consistently move in the low-to-mid three figures unsigned, higher signed. 1988 UNM Press Mayordomo firsts in jacket land in double digits unsigned and low three figures signed. 1992 HarperCollins A Garlic Testament firsts in jacket are scarce and solid double digits. The later UNM Press titles move in the double-digit range regardless of printing. Dalkey Archive's 2008 Log reissue is a common reading copy — sub-modest value.
What not to do
Do not confuse the 2008 Dalkey Archive Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine paperback with the 1972 Knopf first. The paperback is abundant and inexpensive; the hardcover first is scarce. Do not assume Mayordomo signed copies are valuable without verifying the signature against known exemplars — Crawford has signed extensively and inscribed copies to specific Embudo-valley neighbors are the real premium piece.
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The pickup is free, Albuquerque and the Rio Grande corridor alike. I sort and grade the collection where it sits and handle every title from reading copy to signed first. No donation-center stress, no extra trips.