Description:
1825. Thomas M'Lean. London. 1825. First edition. Large 4to. Plain tan cloth backstrip, frayed and worn at extermities, marbled boards which are rubbed. 49 plates out of 50 - lacking the Dog Fighting plate and description. All other plates present. Occasional light foxing not affecting plates themselves. Ownership inscriptions to front endpapers. A clean and sound copy.
The National Sports of Great Britain. Fifty engravings with descriptions. by Alken, Henry - 1825
by Alken, Henry
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The National Sports of Great Britain. Fifty engravings with descriptions.
by Alken, Henry
- Used
Henry Alken. The National Sports of Great Britain. Fifty engravings with descriptions. London, printed for Thomas M'Lean, by Howlett and Brimmer, 1825. 26 x 18 cm. vi, [102] pp. and 50 fine hand-coloured etched plates with tissue guards. Contemporary gold-tooled straight-grained red morocco, gilt edges, kept in a half cloth clamshell box.
Appears to be recased, the binding rubbed and slightly damaged, the corners bumped. A few plates with some smudges, plate 6 with a closed tear, the box damaged on the upper joint. Overall in good condition.
Henry Thomas Alken (1785–1851) was a prolific artist and engraver and an avid sportsman, best remembered for his lively and often finely hand-coloured hunting prints, most of which he produced between 1816 and 1831. The prints in the present collection show horse racing, fox hunting, coursing, shooting, angling, blood sports, and, perhaps surprising, boxing.
From the collection of Lord Nathan of Churt with his etched armorial bookplate (by H.J.F. Badeley) on paste-down. Harry Louis Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan (1889-1963) was a British liberal politician and book collector, whose collection was sold at auction in 1962.
This edition differs from the 1821 edition with the same title. There seems to be some confusion as to the bibliographical format of the present edition. Schwerdt lists it as octavo, while others have catalogued it as "small quarto" or "small folio". The confusion arises from the fact that, as Podeschi's collation correctly shows, it's made up of disjunct leaves (of wove paper watermarked "1822"), rather than quires, rendering the determination of format particularly challenging.
Podeschi, Horse and Horsemanship 121; Schwerdt, Hunting, Hawking, Shooting I, pp. 19-20; cf. DNB I, p. 292.
Henry Thomas Alken (1785–1851) was a prolific artist and engraver and an avid sportsman, best remembered for his lively and often finely hand-coloured hunting prints, most of which he produced between 1816 and 1831. The prints in the present collection show horse racing, fox hunting, coursing, shooting, angling, blood sports, and, perhaps surprising, boxing.
From the collection of Lord Nathan of Churt with his etched armorial bookplate (by H.J.F. Badeley) on paste-down. Harry Louis Nathan, 1st Baron Nathan (1889-1963) was a British liberal politician and book collector, whose collection was sold at auction in 1962.
This edition differs from the 1821 edition with the same title. There seems to be some confusion as to the bibliographical format of the present edition. Schwerdt lists it as octavo, while others have catalogued it as "small quarto" or "small folio". The confusion arises from the fact that, as Podeschi's collation correctly shows, it's made up of disjunct leaves (of wove paper watermarked "1822"), rather than quires, rendering the determination of format particularly challenging.
Podeschi, Horse and Horsemanship 121; Schwerdt, Hunting, Hawking, Shooting I, pp. 19-20; cf. DNB I, p. 292.
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- Date Published 1825
We have 4 copies available starting at £750.00.
The National Sports of Great Britain. Fifty Engravings with Descriptions.
by ALKEN, Henry
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire, United Kingdom
- Item Price
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£750.00
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£750.00
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The National Sports of Great Britain. Fifty Engravings with Descriptions.
by Alken, Henry
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom
- Item Price
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£1,000.00
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Description:
London: Thomas M'Lean, 1825. Hardback, recently rebound in full-leather. Decorative gilt spine. Marbled end-papers. Edges gilt. Unpaginated. Fifty Engravings with Descriptions. Tissue guard to frontispiece only - a little offsetting to contents from other engravings. An excellent copy in an attractive binding. (bs53). Hard Cover. Very Good.
Item Price
£1,000.00
The National Sports of Great Britain. Fifty Engravings, with Descriptions
by Alken, Henry
- Used
- very good
- first
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Edition
- First Edition thus
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
New York, New York, United States
- Item Price
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£3,660.30
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Description:
Haymarket, London: Thomas McLean, 1825. First Edition thus. Full Contemporary Straight-Grained Morocco. Very Good. Large Paper copy of what might be regarded as a Second Edition but is arguably a First Edition in the sense that the plates are entirely new. Some of Alken's most impressive work, here not just depicting equestrian sports -- foxhunting, coursing, racing -- but also cock fighting, dog fighting, bull baiting, badger baiting, boxing, fly fishing, various forms of shooting, and a few plates focused on just the animals used in shooting, such as pointers and setters. Folio, 38 by 27 cm. Frontis plate, title page, blank, iii-vi, List of Plates, blank, 10-no number, with text description of Frontis plate, and so 10 probably intended to be a "1"), followed by 49 plates, each with a blank back, and each plate accompanied by a text leaf, unpaginated, with text running one to two pages of description. Condition: fairly heavily rubbed along edges and by joints. Gilt border decoration on cover…
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The National Sports of Great Britain, ... Fifty Engravings, with Descriptions
by Alken, Henry
- Used
- first
- Condition
- Used - Full olive levant gilt by Riviere and Son, gilt turn-ins, a.e.g. Bookplate of William Morley Pegge; Schwerdt bookplate. Some lig
- Edition
- First edition in the royal octavo format with new plates
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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New York, New York, United States
- Item Price
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£4,880.40
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Description:
London: Thomas M'Lean, 1825. First edition in the royal octavo format with new plates. 50 hand-colored aquatint plates by H. Alken. Printed title, preface, leaf with printed list of plates; each plate with letterpress text leaf. 1 vols. 8vo. Full olive levant gilt by Riviere and Son, gilt turn-ins, a.e.g. Bookplate of William Morley Pegge; Schwerdt bookplate. Some light traces of foxing in first and last leaves, not affecting plates. Fine copy. Cloth folding box. Alken, Henry. First edition in the royal octavo format with new plates. 50 hand-colored aquatint plates by H. Alken. Printed title, preface, leaf with printed list of plates; each plate with letterpress text leaf. 1 vols. 8vo. Schwerdt Copy. "This book differs from the folio edition ... Alken himself seems ot have drawn in colours and engraved the plates, which like most of his book illustrations are particularly pleasing on account of their small size" (Schwerdt). The "Fox Hunters Toast" plate (no. 19) is bound as a frontispiece; the…
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£4,880.40
