Orme's Collection of British Field Sports

Book Description

London: Edward Orme, 1807-1808 [pre-publication watermarks:1804-1806]. 1 volume, bound from the 10 original parts, oblong folio. (17 11/16 x 22 inches). Hand-coloured aquatint title by James Godby and Henri Merke after W.M. Craig, letterpress contents leaf with hand-coloured aquatint vignette by J. Swain after Howitt, 20 hand-coloured aquatint plates (titled in English and French) by Godby, Merke, Craig, Clark, Vivares after Howitt (plate 2 with letterpress overslip "RACING" pasted over caption "RACEING"; plate 9 with overslip "COURSING 1" pasted over "COURSEING 1"). (Some unobtrusive expert marginal repairs). Modern dark blue straight-grained morocco gilt, spine with decorative roll-tool border, spine in six compartments with raised bands, lettered in gilt in the second compartment, the others with repeat decoration in gilt, original upper wrappers to all 10 parts bound in. A fine copy of this "magnificent work, the most valuable English colour plate book on sport" (Tooley). The plates are from drawings by Samuel Howitt, "genius, artist, sportsman" who concentrated his considerable artistic talents on picturing scenes of horse-racing and hunting in all its aspects. Born in Nottinghamshire, England, Howitt was largely self-taught,"although he must have been helped by his companions George Morland, Thomas Rowlandson and John Raphael Smith. Howitt's watercolours of hunting, shooting and racing have delightful spontaneity. An enthusiastic sportsman himself, he had sufficient family money to paint at first only for his own and his friends pleasure. However, this fortune was quickly dissipated and Howitt moved to London... [He made a living], partly by etching at which he was extremely skilled ... He illustrated Beckford's Thoughts on Hunting, and other books, including Orme's Collection of British Field Sports... The light touch of his pen, the delicacy of his brushwork and his experience of field sports ensured all that he drew was animated and accurate" (Charles Lane British Racing Prints pp.132-133). Schwerdt also waxes lyrical calling this work "the finest and most important sporting book of the last two centuries." Writing in 1928, he goes on to note that even then this work was "very rare" and records a copy with nine (of ten) original wrappers selling for £2,600 at auction in London. (To put this price into perspective, Scribner's offered a complete set of Audubon's Birds of America for sale for $12,000 [or about £2,400] in 1929). Although both Schwerdt and Tooley note the work to have been issued in 9 parts, Abbey calls for 10; the presence of 10 wrappers in the present example proves Abbey correct. Abbey Scenery 14; Mellon/Podeschi 86; Prideaux p.281 ("an important work"); Schwerdt II, p.53; Tooley 273

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