[Rarebooks] Offering: 1869 Work on Outdoor Sports with 19 Coloured Plates

[Michael John Thompson]

Offering:

 MILES, Henry Downes, Esq.  ENGLISH COUNTRY LIFE; A Valuable Work of
Reference for The Gentleman, The Sportsman, The Farmer, The Members of The
Volunteer Rifle Corps, and Every One Interested in Rural Pursuits and
Recreations. Illustrated with 52 Plates, 16 of which are Coloured.  London:
William MacKenzie. No Date. [1869]  1st edition. Quarto, contemporary half
calf over boards, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. 513 pp., index. Colour
lithographed title page and 49 (of 52) plates,  19 of which are in colour -
lithographed with hand colouring added. This volume lacks the plate at page
63, however, both copies at auction in the last 25 years also were oddly
defective (Nov 4, 1993,  47 plates; Sept 1, 1994, 49 plates). The one other
copy on the market today has 48 plates, 18 in colour. Obviously copies were
issued with the plates in variation. 

A compendium and treasure-trove of information on outdoor sports. Topics
include the History of the Gun, Construction of the Gun, The Rifleman and
his Rifle, Shooting, and Dogs Used by the Shooter, The Pursuit of Feathered
Game, Wildfowling, Fen Shooting, Shore and Punt Gunning, The Pursuit of
Wild Animals with Gun and Dog, The Dog: Its Physiology and Diseases, The
Preservation of Game: Vermin and Their Destruction, The Chase: Fox Hunting,
Stag Hunting, Hare Hunting, Otter Hunting, Coursing, and the Greyhound;
with Appendices on Angling, Fly-Dressing, Games with the Ball and the
Management of the Horse. 

Some mild internal soiling and a few spots of foxing to the plates, cover
boards show rubbing and light staining, newley rebacked with full black
calf spine with raised bands and leather label titled in gilt; overall, a
very good copy of an ecellent period reference work. A very scarce book, 2
copies at auction within 25 years, only one copy in institutional libraries
(Yale) as per a 06/01/04 Worldcat search. 

$750.00  US:  Net $600 US to the list
Terms: As usual.
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Michael John Thompson
Thompson Rare Books
950 Fort Street
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada V8V 3K2
250-384-9977

http://www.mjtbooks.com