The Range Boss (Illustrated Edition)

Ruth Harkness is an eastern girl who comes west to take charge of the ranch her uncle has left her. Rex Randerson, the quiet, humorous and resourceful westerner is her range boss. Randerson meets her on her arrival, rescues her from a mired buckboard and is devotedly in love with her from that moment. Ruth however is engaged to Willard Masten who comes west as a member of her party. Masten who is a double dyed villain finds companions of his own calibre in Chavis and Pickett two typical "bad men" and there is much gun play before the story comes to an end with Ruth and her range boss happy in their mutual love and understanding. (From the Book Review Digest of 1917.)

Included in this Illustrated Edition of the 1916 version of "The Range Boss" are all four original illustrations, rejuvenated, and 10 additional, cowboy illustrations that are unique to this edition of the book.

Charles Alden Seltzer (15 August 1875–February 1942) was an American writer. He was a prolific author of western novels, had writing credits for more than a dozen film titles, and authored numerous stories published in magazines, most prominently in Argosy.

Seltzer was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, the son of Lucien B. Seltzer and Oceania Hart of Columbus, Ohio. Before becoming a successful writer, he was variously a newsboy, telegraph messenger, painter, carpenter and manager of the circulation of a newspaper, building inspector, editor of a small newspaper, and an appraiser.

He married Ella Seltzer, and they had three sons and two daughters. His son Louis, later editor of the Cleveland Press, recalled that the family was quite poor when his father was struggling to break into the writing profession (he wrote two hundred stories before receiving an acceptance). During this time, Seltzer's wife brought him wrapping paper from the butcher to write on.

In addition to Argosy, Seltzer's work also appeared in Adventure, Short Stories, Blue Book, The Outing Magazine, Western Story Magazine and the US edition of Pearson's Magazine.

Seltzer wrote his westerns from the experience of five years living in New Mexico. Towards the end of his life, he was also elected mayor of his home-town, North Olmsted, Ohio.