HARGROVE, Ely.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Anecdotes of Archery; First edition of this popular guide. This copy has the gift inscription from the politician George Hibbert (1757-1837) to the architect John Crunden (d. 1828) dated 1796 on the first blank. Crunden was a prominent member of the Toxophilite Society who won the Prince of Wales's Bugle in 1795. In 1835, his memory was honoured with the establishment of the Crunden Cup, which remained one of the society's most prestigious awards well into the 20th century. "At the end of the 18th century, archery was revived as a fashionable pastime among the English aristocracy thanks to a nostalgic taste for the gothic and medieval... Archery's central place in the popular legends of Robin Hood and historic English victories such as Agincourt (1415) and Crécy (1346) meant that it also boasted a patriotic twist to its antiquity" (Johnes, pp. 193 & 200). This guide is notable for its genealogical table showing the ancestry of Robin Hood.

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