University Libraries Celebrates Wendler’s Birthday

The Texas A&M University Libraries is celebrating the 90th birthday of Dr. C. Clifford Wendler ’39 with the acquisition of two rare items.

One is a tinted lithograph presenting a panoramic view of New Braunfels by J. Tempeltey printed in 1851. Described by Texashistorian Ron Tyler as “one of the handsomest of all pre-civil war lithographs of Texas,” the view was produced as part of the land promotion effort of the Adelsverein, an association of German noblemen who founded extensive German settlements in Texas in the 1840s and 1850s.

The second item, an extremely rare first edition of an 1848 German manual issued to facilitate the emigration of Germans to Texas, contains practical information on farm lands in Americawith specifics on life in Texas.

“We are pleased to honor Dr. Wendler on his 90th birthday, with these particular acquisitions relating to his own German ancestry in the Boerne area near New Braunfels and his talents as a Hill Country artist,” explained Colleen Cook, dean of the University Libraries. The works will become part of Cushing Library’s rare and special collections.

The upstairs gallery in Cushing Library is named for Wendler who was a student worker there in the 1930s and served as special assistant to Thomas Mayo, Cushing Library’s first director and a revered campus figure.