The National Sports of Great Britain
Alken, Henry
London. Thomas McLean. 1821
Sold
William Beckford's copy of one of Alken's greatest works.
The first edition, second issue with the frontispiece dated 1821.
Described by Tooley as 'the cornerstone of any Alken collection' the work depicts the whole gamut of British sporting life from racing to hunting, shooting and fishing. The work also depicts other aspects of sporting life, from the working dogs involved - hounds, terriers, pointers and so on - to the more atavistic aspects of traditional British sport such as bull-, bear- and badger-baiting (all outlawed by Parliament in 1835), cock-fighting (outlawed in 1849) and 'spearing the otter' (otter killing was finally banned in 1978). In some ways Alken's book, many times reprinted, can be seen as the final record of those national sports which were, at the time of publication, still practised, and perhaps more importantly, still legal.
William Beckford (1760 - 1844), said to be the richest commoner in England, collector, novelist, patron, connoiseur, scandalizer of contemporary society and sometime MP elected to sell his extraordinary creation Fonthill Abbey and its contents when short of funds in 1822. Shortly prior to Christie's intended sale (an illustrated catalogue was issued in an edition of 72,000 copies), a purchase of the house and some of the contents was effected to the wealthy and eccentric gunpowder manufacturer John Farquar. Farquar retained the Abbey but sold the effects and books in Mr. Phillips' 39 day sale in 1823. Beckford himself, as well as his son-in-law the Duke of Hamilton, were keen participants in the sale and bought back many of the most important books and items. Beckford continued to collect until his death, upon which his collection passed to the Duke of Hamilton; the Hamilton Palace sale of 1882, one of the largest of the century, saw the final dispersal of Beckford's collections.
Beckford's crests are stamped in gilt to the spine of the volume: 'A heron's head erased or, gorged with a collarflory counterflory gu[les] in the beak a fish ar[gent]' with Beckford's motto 'De Dieu tout' in the first compartment and in the third: 'Issuant out of a ducal coronet or, an oak tree fructed ppr. (proper), the stem penetrated transversely by a fram-saw also ppr. (proper) inscribed with the word 'Through' differenced by a shield pendent from a branch of the tree, charged with the arms of Latimer' (see 'The General Armory &c.', Sir Bernard Burke, 1969).
'Alken's most important work ... Numerous copies have been broken up, and the plates framed separately, and the tendency is for the work to become scarcer and scarcer. It must always form the cornerstone of any Alken collection.' (Tooley).
'They [the plates] are full of sheer delight for the sportsman, and are of historic interest ... '. (Martin Hardie).
[PROVENANCE: William Beckford's armorial crests to first and third compartments of binding (see below); lot 2516 in the 1823 sale of the library and contents of Fonthill Abbey held over 39 days (sold on the 21st day)].
[Schwerdt I, p. 19; Tooley 41; Martin Hardie, English Coloured Books, pg. 182].
The first edition, second issue with the frontispiece dated 1821.
Described by Tooley as 'the cornerstone of any Alken collection' the work depicts the whole gamut of British sporting life from racing to hunting, shooting and fishing. The work also depicts other aspects of sporting life, from the working dogs involved - hounds, terriers, pointers and so on - to the more atavistic aspects of traditional British sport such as bull-, bear- and badger-baiting (all outlawed by Parliament in 1835), cock-fighting (outlawed in 1849) and 'spearing the otter' (otter killing was finally banned in 1978). In some ways Alken's book, many times reprinted, can be seen as the final record of those national sports which were, at the time of publication, still practised, and perhaps more importantly, still legal.
William Beckford (1760 - 1844), said to be the richest commoner in England, collector, novelist, patron, connoiseur, scandalizer of contemporary society and sometime MP elected to sell his extraordinary creation Fonthill Abbey and its contents when short of funds in 1822. Shortly prior to Christie's intended sale (an illustrated catalogue was issued in an edition of 72,000 copies), a purchase of the house and some of the contents was effected to the wealthy and eccentric gunpowder manufacturer John Farquar. Farquar retained the Abbey but sold the effects and books in Mr. Phillips' 39 day sale in 1823. Beckford himself, as well as his son-in-law the Duke of Hamilton, were keen participants in the sale and bought back many of the most important books and items. Beckford continued to collect until his death, upon which his collection passed to the Duke of Hamilton; the Hamilton Palace sale of 1882, one of the largest of the century, saw the final dispersal of Beckford's collections.
Beckford's crests are stamped in gilt to the spine of the volume: 'A heron's head erased or, gorged with a collarflory counterflory gu[les] in the beak a fish ar[gent]' with Beckford's motto 'De Dieu tout' in the first compartment and in the third: 'Issuant out of a ducal coronet or, an oak tree fructed ppr. (proper), the stem penetrated transversely by a fram-saw also ppr. (proper) inscribed with the word 'Through' differenced by a shield pendent from a branch of the tree, charged with the arms of Latimer' (see 'The General Armory &c.', Sir Bernard Burke, 1969).
'Alken's most important work ... Numerous copies have been broken up, and the plates framed separately, and the tendency is for the work to become scarcer and scarcer. It must always form the cornerstone of any Alken collection.' (Tooley).
'They [the plates] are full of sheer delight for the sportsman, and are of historic interest ... '. (Martin Hardie).
[PROVENANCE: William Beckford's armorial crests to first and third compartments of binding (see below); lot 2516 in the 1823 sale of the library and contents of Fonthill Abbey held over 39 days (sold on the 21st day)].
[Schwerdt I, p. 19; Tooley 41; Martin Hardie, English Coloured Books, pg. 182].
Folio. (500 x 330 mm). Hand-coloured title dated 1821, printed title in English and French, preface leaves in English and French, list of plates in English (recto) and French (verso) and 50 hand-coloured plates, each with guardleaf and leaf of descriptive text in English (recto) and French (verso). The first plate, 'Hawking' is bound in as the frontispiece opposite the hand-coloured title. Contemporary full calf, boards with elaborate gilt decorative borders composed of foliate tools with fleuron corner-pieces, banded spine with elaborate decorative floral tooling, the crests of William Beckford and title, all gilt, in six compartments, board edges and turn-ins with gilt tooling, marbled endpapers and edges.
#40506
