
HUNTING
& FISHING
[
]
The First Lady of
Fly Fishing?
(AN ANGLING CLASSIC). Berners, Juliana. The treatyse of fysshynge wyth an angle. London: William Pickering, 1827. 8vo (18.1 cm, 7.2"). Frontis., [2], xiii (pagination skips v–viii), [1], 41, [1] pp.; 4 plts.
$650.00
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First Pickering edition of the first known English work on fishing. Reprinted from the Boke of St. Albans, the famed sporting book originally published by Wynkyn de Worde in 1496, this essay on angling is generally attributed — although not certainly so — to Dame Juliana Berners (or Barnes), supposed prioress of Sopwell nunnery circa 1450. If that attribution is correct, this is not only the earliest printed English work on fishing, but also one of the earliest published English works by a female author. Regardless of its source, it seems to have served as an inspiration both to Izaak Walton and to William Pickering, who printed several editions of Walton, including a particularly lavish production in 1836.
The volume is printed with the original language and spelling preserved, and is illustrated with a woodcut frontispiece of a fisherman taken from de Worde's 1518 edition that is cited as the earliest known depiction of an angler fishing with a rod, as well as with six woodcuts (provided at the back of the volume in the form of four plates) showing types of poles, hooks, etc. The title-page proclaims this as printed with the types of John Baskerville, making it one of the last such printings done in England, and most cataloguing follows suit; but Kelly identifies the font used as the elegant "Fry" Baskerville variant developed by typefounder Isaac More.
Evidence of Readership: A later hand has helpfully added pencilled marginalia clarifying archaic or obscure terms and suggesting subject headers.
NSTC 2B20037; Keynes, Pickering, 42; Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, 1827.1 (p. 21). Later half calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, gilt-decorated raised bands, and gilt-stamped fishing creel devices in compartments; spine label with small edge chips and mild rubbing to paper. Pencilled annotations as above, pages and plates otherwise pleasingly clean. (28566)

The Fun & Philosophy of Fishing
[Anderdon, John Lavicount]. The river dove, with some quiet thoughts on the happy practice of angling. London: William Pickering, 1847. 12mo (17 cm, 7"). iv, 296 pp., [1 (adv.)] f.
$250.00
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First Pickering edition, reprinted from the 1845 privately printed edition that consisted of only 25 copies. The text is a conversation on angling in the style of Izaac Walton and Charles Cotton.
Keynes p. 49. Not in Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering. Publisher's green cloth, spine sunned to olive and pulled with a little loss at head. Text block split at center, though firm in binding; text clean.
Withall a good copy. (40242)

Printed Using “Fry” Baskerville Types — Uncut Copy
Berners, Juliana. The treatyse of fysshynge wyth an angle. London: Printed ... for William Pickering [by Thomas White], 1827. 8vo (19 cm, 7.5"). Frontis., [2], xiii (pagination skips v–viii), [1], 41, [1] pp.; 4 plts.
$750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
As above, but:
This copy uncut and in original boards: RARE THUS.
NSTC 2B20037; Keynes, Pickering, 42; Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, 1827.1 (p. 21). Beyond the scope of Gaskell, Baskerville. Publisher's dun-colored light boards. Uncut copy. Light overall rubbing; spine with minor loss of paper. Old bookseller's description affixed to front free endpaper; small oval stain to corner of half-title and frontispiece, a bit of light offsetting from plates. A very nice copy in a later open-back cardboard slipcase. (30461)

Aldine-Published Poem on
HUNTING
Conti, Natale. Natalis Comitum Veneti De venatione, libri IIII. Hieronymi Ruscellii scholiis brevissimis illustrati. Venetiis: [colophon:] Apud Aldi filios, 1551. 8vo (15.5 cm, 6"). 44, [4] ff.
$3450.00
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Sole Aldine edition of Conti’s four-part poem on
hunting and also the first edition overall; it enjoyed considerable success during the author’s lifetime (1520–82) and was incorporated in many editions of his Mythologiae (first edition, 1567). The five pages of the final four leaves contain the scholia of the polymath Girolamo Ruscelli (c.1500–66), who was also a versifier of talent.
Conti, a Humanist and historian, is now best remembered as a mythographer who believed that the Classical presenters of myths meant them to be read as allegory.
Binding: 19th-century crushed midnight blue morocco, round spine with four raised bands forming five spine compartments, four of which are further defined by a single gilt rule on four sides and have each a gilt floral device in the center; each band accented with gilt beading. Author and title gilt in the fifth compartment and at base of bottom compartment, in gilt, place and date of publication. Both boards with a simple gilt triple-fillet border, board edges with a single gilt fillet, turn-ins gilt-tooled with an intricate roll. Endpapers of a French combed-up pattern.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Renouard opines: “Mince volume devenu rare.”
EDIT 16 CNCE 13162; Index Aurel. 144.003; Renouard, Alde, 152:14; Adams C2431; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 405; Kallendorf & Wells, Aldine Press Books, 348; Ebert, Allgemeines bibliographisches Lexikon, 5036; Schwerdt, I, 118. Binding as above.
A very nice copy in all respects. (37914)

“Just 25 Yards of Sail to
Carry TWO People Across the ATLANTIC OCEAN!”
Crapo, Thomas. Strange, but true. Life and adventures of Captain Thomas Crapo
and wife. New Bedford: [self-published] Capt. Thomas Crapo, 1893 [but, really, 1899 or later]. 8vo (20 cm, 7.9"). 151, [1] pp.; illus.
$60.00
Click the images for enlargements.
A
whaler's account of his life and times, culminating with the voyage he and his wife made from New Bedford, MA, to Penzance, England. Joanna Crapo was the first woman to cross the Atlantic in a dory boat, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. This is an early reissue of the first edition, with a postscript written by Mrs. Crapo sometime after the captain's death in 1899.
Forster 32; Toy 156. Publisher's brown cloth, covers stamped in blind, spine with gilt-stamped title; edges and extremities slightly rubbed, spine with small spots of discoloration. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean; a nice copy. (33301)

“Good Shooting is a Very Necessary Ingredient in the
Making of Good Dogs”
Dobson, William. Kunopaedia. A practical essay on breaking or training the English spaniel or pointer. With instructions for attaining the art of shooting flying. In which the latter is reduced to rule, and the former inculcated on principle. London: Printed for Sherwood, Neely & Jones by C. Whittingham, Chiswick, 1817. 8vo (23.4 cm, 9.25"). Frontis., xliv, 235 pp.
$200.00
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A Regency-era guide to training bird dogs and bird hunting, written in two “letters” by William Dobson (1750–1813) to a Scottish friend, with further material added for general readers in response to the recipient’s urging publication. Dobson’s guides never received the thorough rewrite he intended, which is a good thing according to his editor; the material would have otherwise lost its charm. (This is the second edition, Dobson having died a year before publication of the first; the “charm” includes a certain amount of “period” cruelty to the canine trainees.)
Kunopaedia is
one of the earliest books on bird dog training and bears a small wood-engraved frontispiece depicting a man and his dog opposite the title-page.WorldCat locates only eight copies of this second edition, including one in the library of the American Kennel Club.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Not in Ing. Publisher’s quarter olive paper over blue boards, with paper spine label; edges rubbed, corners bumped, and spots/soiling to boards. Page edges untrimmed. Minimal, faint spotting to interior; pages mildly cockled; semi-puncture to margin of pp. xi–xvi, corner of one leaf folded in twice.
A solid and pleasant copy, in unaltered guise, of this early dog training manual. (37913)

Stamped in the Titular Metals
Ellwanger, George H. In gold and silver. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1892. 12mo (17.1 cm, 6.73"). Frontis., illum. t.-p., viii, 156, [2 (adv.)] pp.; 8 plts., illus.
$55.00
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First edition of these four stories: one example of prime 19th-century Orientalist exoticism in which a traveler tries to track down a famously beautiful rug,
two fishing tales, and an account of a fox's triumph over his would-be hunters. The stories are
illustrated with a frontispiece, eight additional plates, and a number of in-text vignettes by A.B. Wenzell, W.C. Greenough, and W. Hamilton Gibson, as well as a title-page printed in accordance with the title.
Binding: Publisher's brick-colored cloth, front cover with cream medallion stamped in gilt and silver, in silver- and gold-stamped frame with corner fleurons, spine and back cover repeating the corner fleuron motifs. Top edges gilt. Silk bookmark detached but laid in.
Binding as above; spine foot chipped, corners rubbed, otherwise fresh and bright inside and out.
In fact a lovely little volume, with both the gold and the silver, i.e., aluminum, shine extraordinarily bright and clear. (41288)

Plenty of Stories in
Plenty of Places
Frewen, Moreton. Melton Mowbray and other memories. London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, 1924. 8vo (21.6 cm; 8.5"). viii, [4], 311 pp., [16] plts.
$240.00
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A very opinionated autobiography recounting Frewen's numerous adventures throughout England, the United States, Egypt, the Balkans, and India, from his childhood as part of the English gentry to tales of bison used as snow plows in the Wyoming Territory.
Howes notes ten chapters are dedicated to Frewen's “disastrous cattle enterprise on Powder river.”While suffering from financial difficulties throughout his life, Frewen continually worked with influential people, many of whom are here discussed in detail, including his wife Clara Jerome, aunt of Winston Churchill.
One way and another there is plenty of huntin', shootin', and fishin'; and there are plenty of politics.
Provenance: A tantalizing “Wealdside 1924” in ink on the front pastedown. The Weald is of course of huge extent, and there are therefore potentially a number of possible “Wealdsides”; but it is notable that the Frewen family dates back to Elizabethan times in East Sussex — and, perhaps, that Moreton Frewen died in 1924.
Howes F380; Graff 1442. Light green publisher's cloth, cover ruled and lettered in black, spine and back also stamped in black; gently rubbed and text slightly cocked, with a thumbnail-sized pink stain along the edge of the back cover and speckling the bottom edge. Light age-toning with offsetting to fly-leaves; inscription as noted.
A good read in a good solid copy. (37037)

CORNERSTONE for an
AMERICAN SPORTING LIBRARY
“Gentleman of Philadelphia County, A” [i.e., Jesse Y. Kester]. The American shooter's manual, comprising such plain and simple rules, as are necessary to introduce the inexperienced into a full knowledge of all that relates to the dog, and the correct use of a gun; also a description of the game of this country. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1827. 12mo (18.5 cm; 7.125"). [2] ff., pp. [ix]–249, [1] p., [1 (errata)] f., [3 (ads)] ff.; frontis., 2 plts.
$1800.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The first American illustrated sporting book and the first American sporting book written by an American. Only one sporting book published in America preceded it: The Sportsman's Companion (NY,1783; later editions Burlington [NJ], 1791, and Philadelphia, 1793), “by a gentleman, who has made shooting his favorite amusement upwards of twenty-six years, in Great-Britain, Ireland, and North-America.”
Kester deals almost exclusively with game birds and waterfowl native to the Delaware Valley that surrounds Philadelphia: wild turkeys, partridge, snipe, quail, grouse, and ducks. With regard to rifles and guns he addresses cleaning, powder, wadding, etc. And when writing about dogs, in addition to notes on training and conditioning them, he offers recipes for common ailments and gun-shot wounds.
The plates are signed “F. Kearny,” an artist born in Perth Amboy, NJ, who studied drawing with Archibald and Alexander Robertson and engraving with Peter Maverick. From 1810 to his death in 1833 he practiced engraving in Philadelphia.
There are two states of gathering “U”: this copy has the typographical error “tibbon” with the stop-press correction to “ribbon” on p. 235.
The volume ends with advertisements for several sporting and fishing goods suppliers.
Shoemaker 27838; Howes K108; Henderson, American Sporting Books, 6; Phillips, Sporting Books, 21; Streeter Sale 4084; Bennett, Practical Guide, 60–61. On Stauffer, American Engravers, I, 148–49. Publisher's sprinkled sheep with simple rope roll in blind on board edges, some abrasion to leather; round spine with gilt double rules forming “spine compartments,” black leather title label. The usual light and scattered foxing noted in all copies, nothing more.
A very nice copy. (28553)

“There are Few Difficulties That Cannot be Surmounted by
Patience, Resolution, & Pluck”
Henty, G.A. Condemned as a Nihilist: A story of escape from Siberia. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1892. 8vo (19 cm, 7.45"). 332, 16 (adv.) pp.; 8 plts., 1 map.
$65.00
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First U.S. edition: Written by George Alfred Henty, a prolific and popular novelist who specialized in historical juvenile adventures, this jaunty tale features a Russian-born but English-raised teenager exiled to Siberia after obliviously mingling with the wrong crowd. Much of the plot involves hearty outdoor adventures — including camping, boating, hunting, and fishing — during the course of our hero's travels from the east of Siberia to Norway and thence back home.
Reproduced in black and white,
Walter Paget's eight illustrations depict dramatic scenes of survival including a boxing match with a prisoner, a bear attack, and a fight with hostile Samoyeds; they are accompanied by one double-page map of the Russian empire.
Binding: Publisher's teal cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and scene of a bearded man either tying or untying the hero stamped in black, brown, and gilt, spine similarly stamped; midnight blue endpapers and all page edges stained to match boards.
Dartt, pp. 40-41; Newbolt 58. Bound as above, binding very slightly cocked with edges and extremities lightly rubbed. Text clean.
A nice copy of one of Henty's less common titles. (38686)

Grouse Shooting, Percussion Powder, Pointers
Johnson, Thomas Burgeland; Charles Towne, illus. The shooter's companion. London: Printed by Johnson for Edwards & Knibb and W. Grapel, 1819. 12mo (19.6 cm, 7.75"). XII, [1], 14–156 pp.; 3 plts.
$325.00
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Johnson, an avid hunter and specialist on field sports who originally began his career as a printer in Liverpool, first published his Shooter's Guide in 1809 under the pseudonym of B. Thomas, followed by The Complete Sportsman in 1817 (as “T. H. Needham”) and finally the Shooter's Companion. The Dictionary of National Biography notes that this work “celebrates the patent wire cartridge” and “drew on [Johnson's] experience in breeding pointers 'equal, if not superior, to any in the world' . . . Johnson excelled at the art of shooting over dogs”; but also notes that it avoids much detail on the newer styles of fast riding and battue shooting.
The title-page summarizes this comprehensive work as “Directions for the Breeding, Training, and Management of Setters and Pointers, with an Historical Description of Winged Game. The Fowling Piece considered, particularly as it relates to the Use of Percussion Powder. The various Methods of making Percussion Powder, and the best pointed out. Of Scent: the Olfactory Organs anatomically explained; with the Reason why one Dog's Sense of Smell is superior to another's. Shooting illustrated; and the Art of Shooting Flying simplified and clearly laid down. The
Game Laws familiarly explained, and illustrated by various Cases. As well as every Information connected with the Use of the Fowling Piece.”
This
first edition is illustrated with three copper-etchings of a gentleman and his two dogs in the various stages of the hunt, all done by respected landscape and animal painter Charles Towne (born Town).
Schwerdt, I, 269. On Johnson, see DNB (online). Original drab boards, rebacked with appropriate quarter paper and with new printed paper spine label; boards rubbed, illegible ownership signature on front board, new pastedowns. Edges untrimmed, light age-toning with the very occasional spot or stain, dust-soiling along some edges; plates lightly to moderately foxed with expectable offsetting to surrounding pages. (38629)

“For the Entertainment & Instruction of YOUNG PEOPLE
Both Town & Country”
Ramble, Robert [pseud. of John Frost]. Robert Ramble's scenes in the country. Philadelphia: Smith & Peck (pr. by Brown, Bicking & Guilbert; stereotyped by Murray & Joyce), 1841. 12mo (15.1 cm, 5.94"). Frontis., 143, [1] pp.; illus.
$200.00
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First edition of this juvenile reader from Philadelphia schoolteacher and prolific children's author John Frost: poetry and prose focusing on rural life, including farming and homesteading practices. The topics include rent day, angling, loading hay, the dairy, going to market, etc., with
each subject featuring a full-page wood-engraved illustration by American artist William Croome, who also illustrated several of Frost's other works.
Uncommon: A search of WorldCat finds only two U.S. institutions reporting holdings (American Antiquarian Society, New York Historical Society).
Binding: Publisher's straight-grained black cloth (deeply textured), covers with blind-stamped corner fleurons, front cover with gilt-stamped vignette.
Provenance: Front free endpaper with early pencilled gift inscription reading “Helena Emma Abbott [/] Presented by her cousin,” rear free endpaper with Abbott's own pencilled inscription. Most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Not in American Imprints. Bound as above, slightly cocked and with corners rubbed. Interior age-toned with mild to moderate spotting and offsetting from illustrations; two leaves with upper outer corners creased across.
A very presentable copy of an uncommon and charming item. (41513)

Isn't “Rustlings in the Rockies” a GREAT Title??
Shields, G.O. Rustlings in the Rockies: Hunting and fishing by mountain and stream. Chicago: Belford, Clarke & Co., 1883. 8vo. Frontis., xvi (vii/viii bound in after xvi),9–306, [6 (adv.)] pp.; illus.
$100.00
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Early edition, following the first of 1880 (published as Hunting the Great West): Outdoors adventures among the bears and buffalo — not to mention the trout and the alligator — as well as encounters with the Cheyenne and Sioux, all illustrated with numerous full-page and in-text steel engravings. The author (a.k.a. Coquina) was president of the League of American Sportsmen and a frequent contributor to American Field.
Binding: Publisher's brown cloth, front cover with black-stamped hunting scene and title framed in gilt, spine with gilt-stamped title.
Binding as above, corners and spine head lightly rubbed. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper, rubber-stamp on title-page, no other markings. Pages clean. (27113)

“On Pointed Spears They Lift Him High in the Air”
Somerville (a.k.a. Somervile), William. The chace. A poem. London: Printed for G. Hawkins, & sold by T. Cooper, 1735. Small 8vo (20.5 cm; 8"). [10] ff., 131 pp.
$185.00
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Somerville (1675–1742) was a country squire whose considerable landholding enabled him to pursue his two
favorite pastimes of hunting and writing poetry while serving occasionally as a magistrate.His “major poem was The Chace, published in 1735 and dedicated to Frederick, prince of Wales. In four books of blank verse he conveyed the excitement and dangers of the chase as well as its place in history” (ODNB).
This is the third edition, printed by William Bowyer for Hawkins, in an edition of 1500 copies, attesting to the poem's
great popularity. A fourth edition followed in the same year and it continued to be printed in the 18th century with an edition appearing as late as 1800, and yet others in the 19th century!
Foxon, English verse, 1701–1750, S564; ESTC T30392. Modern boards covered in a brown stone-pattern marbled paper. Clean and not close-trimmed; very good. (32765)


A SERIES OF SURTEES
An
Enduring Figure
of
English
Comic Literature
Surtees,
Robert Smith. Handley Cross; or,
Mr. Jorrocks's hunt. London: [Whitefriars Press, 1888]. 8vo (22.6 cm, 8.9").
xiii, [3], 578 pp.; 17 col. plts., 31 plts.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Largely unopened copy, from a subscription edition: A rollicking
entry in a much-loved series, in which the Cockney grocer Mr. Jorrock becomes
master of the “hounds” of the Handley Cross hunt, with chaotic results.
The author was a sporting writer and novelist whose keen-eyed chronicles of the golden age of foxhunting were thought to carry a whiff of the vulgar in their day (Allibone did not deign to mention any of his fiction) — but are now appreciated for Surtees's “mordant observations on men, women, and manners; his entertaining array of eccentrics, rakes, and rogues; his skill in the construction of lively dialogue (a matter over which he took great pains); his happy genius for unforgettable and quotable phrases . . .” (DNB).
First published in 1843 and first printed with illustrations in 17 monthly
parts 1853–54, the misadventures of the enthusiastic Mr. Jorrocks appear
here “printed for subscribers from the plates of the Original Edition
issued by Bradbury, Agnew & Co.” The volume is illustrated with
16
hand-colored, steel-engraved plates and 31 wood-engraved plates
by famed caricaturist John Leech. The colored scenes, many involving horses
or hounds or both, are carefully and artistically tinted; the social scenes
are more delicately shaded than the vivid hunting scenes. In addition to the
color and black-and-white plates, numerous in-text wood-engravings decorate
the text.
Binding: Publisher's crimson
cloth, front cover with horse and hound vignettes stamped in black and gilt,
spine with black and gilt portrait of Jorrocks himself.
NCBEL, III, 967. On Surtees, see: Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography online. Binding as above, spine much sunned
but covers bright and fresh. Signatures almost entirely unopened; contents
pages and a few other early signatures awkwardly opened with resulting edge
tears, including to upper margins (only) of five uncolored plates. One colored
plate with tiny scuff in image. Despite described faults, still a solid, bright,
beautifully illustrated copy with a great deal of charm. (30448)

The Thrill of the Chase
Illustrated by Phiz
Surtees, Robert Smith. Hawbuck Grange. London: [Whitefriars Press, 1888]. 8vo (22.6 cm, 8.9"). [14], 265, [1] pp.; 8 col. plts.; 13 plts.
$125.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Unopened
copy, from a subscription edition: The entertaining trials
and tribulations of dedicated fox-hunter Tom Scott, illustrated by Hablot Knight
Browne, a.k.a. Phiz.
See
the end of the first paragraph in our first “Surtees” entry, for
a general note on him.
First published in 1847, these vividly rendered hunting scenes appear here “printed for subscribers from the plates of the Original Edition issued by Bradbury, Agnew & Co.” The volume is illustrated with
8 plates by Phiz, hand-colored, and 13 steel-engraved plates by W.T. Maude. While Phiz's caricatures are sharp and witty, the coloring itself is rather elegantly restrained. In addition to the color and black-and-white plates, numerous in-text wood-engravings decorate the text, the whole providing many depictions of the hunt.
Binding: Publisher's crimson cloth, front cover and spine stamped with hunting vignettes and hound decorations in black and gilt.
NCBEL, III, 967. On Surtees, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Binding as above, spine much sunned but covers bright and fresh, minimal wear to extremities. Signatures unopened. Save for the dimmed spine, a beautiful and bright copy. (30434)

Chasing
after
Foxes
& Fortunes: 13
Hand-Colored
Plates
Surtees,
Robert Smith. Mr. Sponge's sporting tour.
London: [Whitefriars Press, 1888]. 8vo (22.6 cm, 8.9"). [2], x, [2], 450 pp.;
13 col. plts., 30 plts.
$125.00
Unopened copy,
from a subscription edition: Misadventures of “Soapey” Sponge, a
rakish anti-hero constantly on the prowl for both a wealthy wife and a good
hunt (the latter preferably at someone else's expense). “The author .
. . will be glad if [this work] serves to put the rising generation on their
guard against specious, promiscuous acquaintance, and trains them on to the
noble sport of hunting, to the exclusion of its mercenary, illegitimate off-shoots”
(p. iii), says Surtees . . .
See
the end of the first paragraph in our first “Surtees” entry for
a general note on him.
First published in 1853 as a 13-part serial, the Sporting Tour appears
here “printed for subscribers from the plates of the Original Edition
issued by Bradbury, Agnew & Co.” The volume is illustrated with
13
hand-colored and 30 steel-engraved plates
by famed caricaturist John Leech. The colored scenes, most of which
depict hunting or riding scenes, are carefully and attractively done with
nicely shaded tints. In addition to the color and black-and-white plates,
numerous in-text wood-engravings decorate the text.
Binding: Publisher's crimson
cloth, front cover and spine stamped with horse and hound vignettes in black
and gilt.
NCBEL, III, 967. On Surtees, see: Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography online. Binding as above, spine much sunned
but covers bright and fresh. Signatures unopened. One leaf holed in text with
loss of a few words and with some light discoloration around this, without
loss of sense. Save for the dimmed spine, a beautiful and bright copy. (30426)
Social
Satire at Brighton: Illustrated
by Leech
Surtees,
Robert Smith. Plain or ringlets? London: [Whitefriars
Press, 1888]. 8vo (22.6 cm, 8.9"). x, [4], 398 pp.; 12 col. plts., 8 plts.
$125.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Unopened copy, from a subscription edition, its title expressing
the critical question before fair Miss Rosa as she considers the effects of
her coiffure on her matrimonial options. The novel takes a mocking look at social
life in provincial England and, although not as fixated on foxhunting as some
of the author's other tales, offers
much
of interest relating to horses and hounds.
See
the end of the first paragraph in our first “Surtees” entry for
a general note on him.
First published in 13 monthly parts in 1860, the machinations of Rosa and
her mamma appear here “printed for subscribers from the plates of the
Original Edition issued by Bradbury, Agnew & Co.” The volume is
illustrated with
12
hand-colored, steel-engraved plates and 8 wood-engraved plates
by famed caricaturist John Leech. The colored scenes, some involving young
ladies in elegant dress and some horses and hounds, are carefully and artistically
tinted; the social scenes are more delicately shaded than the vivid hunting
scenes. In addition to the color and black-and-white plates, numerous in-text
wood-engravings decorate the text.
Binding: Publisher's crimson
cloth, front cover with black- and gilt-stamped hound decorations and a gilt-stamped
vignette of two flirting equestrians, spine with black and gilt Cupid vignette.
NCBEL, III, 968. On Surtees, see: Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography online. Binding as above, extremities slightly
rubbed, spine much sunned but covers bright and fresh. Signatures unopened.
A clean, unread copy, with lovely plates. (30470)
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Merrymount Press Limited Edition
Walton, Izaak. The complete angler, or, The contemplative man's recreation. Boston: C.E. Goodspeed & Co., 1928. 12mo (18.2 cm, 7.125"). xxxi, 323, [3] pp.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
One of 600 copies of this beloved 17th-century treatise: a handsome limited edition printed by D.B. Updike at The Merrymount Press for Charles E. Goodspeed, founder of the famous antiquarian bookshop in Boston. American editor and literary critic Bliss Perry supplied the introduction, saying, “any reader of Walton . . . owes a debt to the 'father of anglers.'”
Updike's Merrymount Press consistently produced quality pieces with simple but poignant design — this being one of them.
W.A. Dwiggins, prominent type and book designer, created the cover pattern and interior decorations.
Binding: Gray, blue, and green pictorial paper–covered boards featuring repeating images of (underwater?) foliage and an angler with a bite, black cloth spine with gilt lettering. Top edges stained green. Issued with glassine wrapper and slipcase.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Agner, Books of WAD, 28.13. Bound as above; glassine wrapper with edges chipped and lower outer front corner lost, slipcase unmarred.
Volume uncut and unopened, clean and nice. (37894)

Walton, Illustrated
Walton, Izaak. The complete angler of Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton: Extensively embellished with engravings on copper and wood ... To which are added, an introductory essay; the Linnaean arrangement of the various river fish delineated in the work; and illustrative notes. London: John Major (pr. at the Shakspeare Press by W. Nicol), 1824. 8vo in 4s (19.7 cm, 7.76"). lviii, 416 pp.; 14 plts.; illus. [with the same author's] The lives of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert, and Dr. Robert Sanderson ... To which are added, the autographs of those eminent men, now first collected; an index, and illustrative notes. London: John Major (pr. at the Shakspeare Press by W. Nicol), 1825. Frontis., xviii, [2], 503, [1] pp.; 10 plts., illus.
$550.00
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Classic combination: Major's nicely edited rendition of Walton's beloved treatise in combination with his collected lives of authors, the set (with Angler here in its stated second edition, Lives in the first)
charmingly illustrated with a total of 25 copper-engraved plates and numerous wood-engraved in-text vignettes. The Angler plates generally represent dashing young men — and a few young ladies — in the garb of Walton's day, while many of the in-text illustrations depict hooked fish; the Lives volume opens with a representation of the subjects' signatures within a decorative frame and includes, along with a portrait of each, ten renditions of important moments and locations in the subjects' careers as well as numerous smaller portraits, coats of arms, etc.
Bindings: Contemporary dark brown morocco, covers framed and panelled in blind surrounding embossed arabesque cartouches, spines with gilt-stamped titles and blind-ruled compartments, board edges with single gilt fillet, wide turn-ins with quadruple gilt fillets and corner fleurons. All edges gilt.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabels (“AHA”) at rear.
Bound as above; joints, edges, and spine extremities rubbed and refurbished, spines sunned. Back free endpapers each with bookseller's ticket of Hessey, Fleet Street. Minor offsetting from turn-ins to free endpapers; pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean.
A desirable set, externally a bit worn, now exuding the promise of comfortable enjoyment. (40307)

The Art of Angling
Illustrated by Adams
Walton, Izaak. The compleat angler or the contemplative man's recreation being a discourse of fish and fishing not unworthy the perusal of most anglers ... decorated by Frank Adams. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1930. Folio (35 cm, 13.5"). Frontis., [10], 124, [2] pp.; illus.
$350.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Beautifully
enhanced facsimile of the first edition of Walton's beloved
classic, possibly the highlight of fishing literature. The pages are
graced with numerous black-and-white decorations in addition to a color-printed
frontispiece and nine scenes of gentlemen fishing done in elegantly muted shades
of green, blue, and brown by American artist Frank Adams (1871–1944),
known for his children's illustrations. This is numbered copy 359 of 450 printed,
and signed by the artist.
Provenance: The publisher-issued bookplate and box label proclaim that this copy belonged to L. Haskell Sweet, a New York businessman.
Coigney 308. Publisher's quarter vellum and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; original glassine dust wrapper and original charcoal-colored paper-covered box with personalized label present, wrapper with chips, short tears, and some creasing, and box split at seams with two side elements fully detached (one lost). Vellum of the volume's spine faintly darkened and spotted, book otherwise clean and fresh with top edges gilt; sweet identification as above.
A good catch. (28332)

Deluxe Angler — In a Zaehnsdorf Binding, with Proof Plates
Walton, Izaak & Charles Cotton; Harris Nicolas, ed. The complete angler or the contemplative man's recreation being a discourse of rivers fish-ponds fish and fishing ... and instructions on how to angle for a trout or grayling in a clear stream ... with original memoirs and notes. London: William Pickering (pr. by C. Whittingham), 1836. Large 8vo (27.3 cm, 10.75"). 2 vols. I: [16], clxiv, [4], [clxv]-ccxii, [2], 129, [1] pp.; 29 plts., illus. II: [4], [131]–436, [32 (index)] pp.; 38 plts., illus.
$4000.00
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First edition edited by Sir Harris Nicolas, and
the most lavish of all of Pickering's editions of this beloved treatise on fishing. In addition to the expected steel-engraved plates and in-text illustrations, this copy features
an extra set of proof plates printed on India paper, mounted on heavy paper, and bound in for all illustrations including the headpiece decorations, for
a total of 67 plates. Horne summed the work up as having been “illustrated by the foremost contemporary artists, produced by an excellent printer and issued by an outstanding publisher” — and it appears here in a binding that does justice to those qualities.
Binding: Signed 20th-century dark green straight-grain morocco, covers framed in quadruple gilt fillets with gilt fish motifs in corners, spines similarly decorated, board edges with gilt fillets, turn-ins with gilt fillets and roll. All edges gilt; green marbled endpapers. Bindings done by Joseph William Zaehnsdorf, with his stamp (dated 1914) on lower front turn-ins.
Provenance: Front pastedowns each with small silver “TJS” monogram label (unidentified); most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Keynes, William Pickering (rev. ed.), p. 94; Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, 1836.17; Ing, Charles Whittingham, 13; Horne, The Compleat Angler 1653–1967, 43. Bindings as above, spines gently sunned; front free endpapers stamped “Bartlett & Co, Boston” in upper outer corners. Occasional minor foxing/spotting; vol. II with mild waterstaining to lower outer portions, more pronounced to first few leaves and later ones.
An enduring classic, in a beautiful set. (40961)

Willis
“Pitched His Tent”
by the
Susquehanna
River
Willis,
Nathaniel Parker. A l'abri, or, The tent
pitch'd. New York: Samuel Colman (pr. by Scatcherd & Adams), 1839. 12mo
(19.2 cm, 7.6"). 172, 12 (adv.) pp.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of this series of lighthearted letters written in
and about the valley of the Susquehanna, near Owego, New York. An author of
notable but ephemeral fame, Willis came from a talented family: His grandfather
published newspapers in both the north and south of the U.S., his father founded
the Youth's Companion (the first newspaper specifically for children),
his sister enjoyed much literary success under the pen name Fanny Fern, and
his brother Richard Stolls Willis was a music critic and composer known for
hymns including
“It Came upon the Midnight Clear.”
Willis himself was the founder of the magazine that became the Home Journal,
and was celebrated in his day for his essays and travel writings as well as
several collections of his journalistic work. The Cambridge History of
American Literature calls him the “prince of magazinists,”
and remarks on “the evanescent sparkle and glancing brilliance”
of A L'abri, later known as Letters from under a Bridge. These
charming, witty essays touch on Willis's Yale education (and its lack of practical
application!);
fishing; a dinner with Lady Blessington, Benjamin Disraeli,
Count D'Orsay, and Lord Durham; the possibility of local railroad construction
to connect the Hudson with Lake Erie; the relationship of American to British
literature, etc. Whatever the ostensible topics of the individual letters,
each touches in affectionate and amusing fashion on some aspect of life in
the Susquehanna region.
A publishing practice, demonstrated: Bound
in at the back of this volume are yellow printed paper wrappers for John
Smith's Letters, and the title-page and preface for Fireside Education
— both items published by Colman in the same year as the present work.
BAL 22752 (spine label in first state, cloth described
as “Brown S cloth “); American Imprints 59260; Fearing,
Check List of Books on Angling, Fishing, Fisheries, Fish-Culture, etc.,
135; Sabin 104504. On Willis, see: Cambridge History of American Literature
online. Publisher's brown cloth embossed with floret and dash pattern,
spine with printed paper label; corners rubbed, and spine cloth chipped with
paper label chipped and darkened. Front free endpaper with early pencilled
ownership inscription. Foxing throughout; occasional pencilled marginalia
and marks of emphasis. (25806)

Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe
Zouch, Thomas. The life of Isaac Walton; including notices of his contemporaries. London: Septimus Prowett, 1823. 8vo (21.1 cm, 8.25"). ii, 93 pp.; 20 plts.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
A beautifully bound biography containing 20 wonderful engraved plates. Initially printed in his 1796 edition of Walton's Lives, Thomas Zouch's biography of the well-known philosophical fisherman was printed separately in response to the republication of The Compleat Angler with the omission of any biographical detail. The Walton editor and biographer provides “considerable corrections . . . by way of notes, the result of more recent inquiries, and an attempt to narrate all that is known respecting 'honest old Isaac Walton.'”
The volume's engraved plates and vignettes include a frontispiece of “Cotton's Fishing House” and steel-engraved portraits of Walton and Charles Cotton, contributor to The Compleat Angler; they are identical with those used by Gosden in his 1822 edition of the Angler.
Binding: Midnight green morocco with delicate gilt decoration of hooks, lines, and a bobbin to front boards, with the design also featuring Walton's initials and dates (given as 1593–1683, although his birth year is also often stated as 1594); spine with raised bands and similar motifs in compartments. Wide, minimally gilt-decorated turn-ins, blue endpapers, and top edge gilt. Bound for former Boston Bookseller N.J. Bartlett & Co. by
Sangorski & Sutcliffe, signed.
Provenance: On front pastedown, the bookplate of Edward Ludlow Parker. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Bound as above. Offsetting of turn-ins to endpapers and additional minor offsetting to pages adjacent to plates; light staining and age-toning to a handful of pages.
A classic work beautifully illustrated and in a fantastic binding; stunning, sturdy, and suitable. (37858)

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