Ideas, Accidental and Incidental to Hunting, and Other Sports;

£4,500 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Rare in the first issue, as a fire claimed part of the stock, and the reissue is inferior in quality (Tooley). Alken's soft-ground etchings, comprising seven suites each with six plates, show imminent dangers, the moment of impact and the sometimes cruel aftermath of accidents to man and horse, with satirical text engraved at the foot of each plate. As Schwerdt states, 'the draftsmanship is good, the colouring vivid, and the inscriptions on the plates, humorous'. First edition, first issue; folio (36 x 26 cm); 42 hand-coloured aquatint plates heightened with gum arabic, dated 1826-30 but watermarked 1825-29, booksellers ticket to front pastedown, clean and bright internally; contemporary half green calf, spine lettered in gilt, pictorial hunting motif giltstamped to upper cover, all edges gilt, later endpapers, preserved in a later protective box, extremities slightly rubbed, hinges cracked but holding, otherwise a very good copy. Mellon 104; Schwerdt I, p17; Siltzer p72; Tooley 36.

• Binding: Hardcover

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