Colt, an American legend: The official history of Colt firearms from 1836 to the present - Hardcover

Wilson, R. L

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0896595897 ISBN 13: 9780896595897

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 1985

Synopsis

The official history of Colt firearms from 1836 to the present

About this title

About the Author:

R. L. Wilson has authored more than forty books and more than three hundred articles in a career that has spanned four decades. His dedication to the world of arms and armor began with a boyhood in Minnesota, followed by internships at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Armouries, H.M. Tower of London, and the Wadsworth Atheneum, where he was appointed curator of firearms at the age of twenty-three.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

INTRODUCTION

The firearm has been a major tool in shaping history since the first effective gonnes” of the fourteenth century, and no name in the history of unmaking can surpass the magical Colt. From their first proving grounds in frontier Texas and Florida in 1837 to the target ranges and collectors’ cabinets of the present, Colt arms have captivated millions of hunters, shooters, and collectors. Mechanically ingenious while most often simple and functional, these arms have nearly always possessed the lines and form of sculpture. To the delight of the pro and novice alike, a fraction of the production has the added feature of hand embellishments engraving, gold inlaying, carved or checkered stocks, platings in gold and silver, and rich casings. Presentation inscriptions, one of the most choice appointments, have set a fraction of this already desirable group into a still higher category of rarity and desirability.

The firm that Sam Colt founded in 1836 is the oldest manufacturer of repeating firearms in the world and possessor of one of history’s most respected brand names. Colt is to firearms as Kodak is to the camera, Ferrari to the automobile, and Singer to the sewing machine.

Colt: An American Legend celebrates the Colt name, past and present, in a pictorial presentation of the plain and the fancy, the historic and the conventional a collection impossible for any enthusiast to assemble in today’s incredible collecting market. Firearms by Colt are often considered the blue chips of gun collecting, and this study substantiates that opinion. Many specimens are in museum arms collections, or in private hands from which they are destined to pass to museums. Only in Colt: An American Legend have all these select guns and information about them been gathered together.

The splendor of Sid Latham’s photography has aimed to capture the artistic and mechanical excellence of the arms, while original period prints and photos have been selected to convey the unique historical ambience of the Colt company and its array of shooting irons.

The author is indebted to Board Chairman George A. Strichman of Colt Industries, to Bob Abrams and his staff at Abbeville Press, and to the many collectors and museums who have shared their prized Colts with Sid Latham’s lens to make Colt: An American Legend a reality.

R.L. Wilson

About this edition

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 1985
• ISBN 10: 0896595897
• ISBN 13: 9780896595897
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 406