Michael Wallis's Route 66: The Mother Road (St. Martin's Press, 1990) is the book widely credited with reigniting popular fascination with the old highway and helping launch the modern Route 66 preservation movement; Wallis himself became a leading voice for the road and later lent his drawl to the sheriff in Pixar's Cars. The text follows the Mother Road from Chicago to Santa Monica, with substantial New Mexico content, the Albuquerque stretch, Tucumcari, and the Pueblo Deco landmarks among the towns that gave the route its character.
The copyright page here states "First Edition" but carries a number line ending in 2, identifying it as a second printing rather than a true first, a detail worth documenting honestly. This copy is enriched by period Albuquerque Journal clippings laid in, including a June 1992 Trends feature and a piece headlined "Legacy of Route 66 Alive in Albuquerque," small artifacts that root the book in the very New Mexico communities Wallis was writing to save.
States 'First Edition' — but the number line ends in 2 (second printing)
The copyright page says 'First Edition,' yet the number line ends in 2 — a second printing of Wallis's celebrated Route 66 history. The line, not the words, is decisive. This is a St. Martin's Press book; see how St. Martin's Press states its first printings.
| Author | Michael Wallis |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Year | 1990 |
| ISBN | 0-312-04049-0 |
| Edition | States 'First Edition' — but the number line ends in 2 (second printing) |
| Condition | Hardcover in dust jacket. |
| Topic | Route 66 history (New Mexico content) |
Photographs © New Mexico Literacy Project, licensed CC BY 4.0 — reuse with attribution. This is an identification and provenance record of a real donation; no appraisal or valuation is offered.
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