About this Item
London: J. Dawks for N. Rolls, 1697. Fourth edition. Octavo (7 1/2" x 4 11/16", 192mm x 120mm). [Full collation available: vii, 142; 91; 77; 71; 91; 8; 104] With an engraved title-page and 4 engraved folding plates. Bound in contemporary sprinkled calf (re-backed, with the original back-strip laid down) with a double blind fillet border and a blind floral roll along the spine-edge. On the spine, five raised bands. Title gilt to red sheep in the second panel. Three crests gilt (a lion's head erased gorged atop a torse; a sword point upwards atop a torse; one partially obliterated) to the tail. Gilt roll to the edges of the birds. Re-backed, with the original back-strip laid down. Wear to the extremities, with a patch of loss to the fore-edge of the rear cover. Mild tanning throughout, especially at the edges of the text-block, with some fragility. Marginal worming O1-Dd1, with some repairs; hardly touching the text. Bookplate of Henry L McVickar "from his bokys on Fysshynge" to the front paste-down. Nicholas Cox is known through his publishing activities (1673-1731; the first edition appeared in 1674 and ran to six editions by the end of Cox's life, with a revival of his work in the XIXc), which had principally to do with the recreations of a gentleman. In this period, that meant sporting ("the chase" or the pursuit of wild animals): hunting (with dogs), hawking and falconry, fowling (i.e., shooting), angling or fishing, hunting (on horseback). These are the divisions of the volume; i.e., the four parts of the title with the first, hunting, split into two forms (although in practice they were often combined; this division treats the care of dogs and of horses separately). Each of the four sections is illustrated with a large folding engraving -- which, some evidence suggests, were sold separately -- by W[illiam] Dolle (the engraved title was engraved by W[illiam] Sherwin. The first, "The antient Hunting Noats. . ." is particularly sought-after, being an early source for the playing of hunting horns. The "Perfect Abstract of all the Forest-Laws" added to the main work has a title (An Abridgment of Manwood's Forrest Laws. And of all the Acts of Parliament Made Since; which relate to Hunting, Hawking, Fishing or Fowling.) dated 1696 and also printed for Nathan Rolls; Wing suggests that it may have been separately for sale, and that it is also the work of Cox. This indicates the early date of the intersection between politics and field sports, which is nowadays instantiated in the oft-quoted 700 hours spent debating fox-hunting in Parliament during the premiership of Tony Blair. The "country gentleman" is also precisely the likeliest to sit in the Commons. The ownership of the volume is tantalizing. The trio of crests (i.e., heraldic symbols placed above the coat of arms or escutcheon, which can on their own identify owners; the third is too worn to be read) at the tail points, perhaps, to the Boyle or O'Boyle family -- one of the few to have a sword point upwards as their crest. The bookplate of Henry Lansing McVickar (1886-1960) appears in other fishing volumes that have come to the market. He graduated Harvard in the class of 1908, went on to be a stock-broker and was, unsurprisingly, a member of the Anglers' Club. ESTC R2155 (Abridgment = Wing M553). Seller Inventory # JLR0432
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