THE SHOOTING MAN'S BEDSIDE BOOK. Compiled by "BB". Merlin Unwin Books second edition reprint.

Watkins-Pitchford (Denys J.). "BB". (1905-1990).

ISBN 10: 187367466X / ISBN 13: 9781873674666

Published by Merlin Unwin Books. Ludlow, Shrosphire. 2006, 2004

About this Item

ALL UK PARCELS SENT TRACKED! ALL OVERSEAS PARCELS SENT AIRMAIL, TRACKED! (S/hand, Hardcover, 2006). (1948) 2006 MUB reprint. 8vo (158 x 240mm). Ppxii,212. B/w illustrations by "BB". Green boards, spine titled in gilt. Gift inscription to end-paper verso. Very good in slightly used dust-wrapper. An anthology of classic sport and natural history. This is a selection from the best of the original edition, for the first time in Britain in a larger format. "I have for many years felt the need of a Shooting Man's Bedside Book which contained, not technical instructions 'how to shoot' or 'how to breed' pheasants and manage a shoot, but which was largely composed of the best descriptive writing on the sport. What interests me (and I think I am an average person) are the actual experiences of shooting men in the field, as long as those accounts are realistic and couched in good English. .Such have I tried to make this volume. But .I have included a certain amount of useful information, shooting records, ballistics, etc., which are necessary and would be demanded if they were omitted. In any case they serve as pastry to what I hope will prove an interesting and palatable pie." B.B. includes a disproportionate amount of wildfowling, for its wildness sake, and, "It is also the most unpopular form of shooting, and I never cease to give thanks for this fact." The articles are divided so - boyhood memories - a mixed bag - some record bags of game - the great bustard - gun dogs - gamekeepers and poachers - deer stalking - wildfowling - 'let us be always out of doors'. Contributors include; 'BB', Richard Jefferies, W.H. Hudson, J.C. Tregarthen, H. Hesketh-Prichard, John Colquhoun, Charles St. John, Abel Chapman, Sir Hugh Gladstone, Llewellyn Powys, A. Stuart-Wortley, Eric Hosking, Patrick Chalmers, Hugh Wormald, C. McLean, J. Wentworth Day, R.D. Irwin, F. Newman, R. Deterding, J. Arthur Gibbs, Scrope, Noel Sedgwick, Lord Dorchester, H. Frank Wallace, J.G. Millais, Peter Scott, Colonel Peter Hawker, John Masefield, 'Paddy Flynn', C.T. Dalgetty, Negley Farson, Eric Parker, Gilbert White, Anon, Wilfred Scawen Blunt, Robert Louis Stevenson. .

Seller Inventory # 63873

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE SHOOTING MAN'S BEDSIDE BOOK. Compiled by "BB". Merlin Unwin Books second edition reprint.
• Publisher: Merlin Unwin Books. Ludlow, Shrosphire. 2006
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 187367466X
• ISBN 13: 9781873674666
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Watkins-Pitchford, Denys

About this title

Synopsis

"'After a day on the moors, stubbles, or a woodland day, I like to take up a book beside my fire and read of other good long days past and gone. Such I have tried to make this volume.' ― BB

First compiled by BB in 1946, he aimed to create a book which was largely composed of the best descriptive writings on the sport of shooting. These pages are packed with evocative and stirring passages for sportsmen to enjoy after a day out and during the long winter evenings.

The extracts chosen represent some of the greatest writers from Richard Jefferies to the poet John Masefield.

BB himself, one of the most evocative writers on the countryside, is well represented in both his writings and his fine scraperboard illustrations. "

About the Author

"Denys Watkins-Pitchford, or 'BB' as he is known, was born in 1905. He grew up in Northamptonshire, where he spent many hours out in the open air as ill health prevented him from being sent to boarding school. He studied art in Paris and at The Royal College of Art in London, and for seventeen years was art master at Rugby School. He was already illustrating books before he began to write under his pseudonym, 'BB'. The Sportsman's Bedside Book (1937) was the first to carry these now famous initials, followed by Wild Lone, the Story of the Pytchley Fox (1939) and Manka, The Sky Gypsy, The Story of a Wild Goose (1939). He was awarded the Carnegie Medal for The Little Grey Men (1941), the tale of the last gnomes in England, which established him in the forefront of literature for children. Many titles followed for both adults and children, and his reputation as a naturalist was further enhanced by his contributions to The Field, Country Life and Shooting Times. He died in 1990."