JAMES CUMMINS bookseller catalogue 123 Sporting Books & Prints
JAMES CUMMINS bookseller catalogue 123 Sporting Books & Prints To place your order, call, write, e-mail or fax:
james cummins bookseller
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front cover: item 11 inside front cover: item 6 inside rear cover: item 40 rear cover: item 84 photography by nicole neenan terms of payment: All items, as usual, are guaranteed as described and are returnable within 10 days for any reason. All books are shipped UPS (please provide a street address) unless otherwise requested. Overseas orders should specify a shipping preference. All postage is extra. New clients are requested to send remittance with orders. Libraries may apply for deferred billing. All New York and New Jersey residents must add the appropriate sales tax. We accept American Express, Master Card, and Visa. unique on vellum [APPERLEY, Charles J.]. The Life of a Sportsman. By Nimrod. [BARKER, Thomas]. Barker’s Delight: Or, the Art of Angling. With pictorial title-page and 37 hand-colored engraved plates Wherein are discovered many rare secrets, very necessary to be by Henry Alken. (The usual 36 and 2 additional plates after knowne by all that delight in that recreation. 2 title-pages dated pp. 70 & 178). Includes the 4 mounted plates with titles be- 1657 and 1659, 3-page publisher’s catalogue at end. 12mo, neath — as in all 1st issue copies. vii, [ii], 402 pp. 8vo, London: London: J. H. Burn, 1820. Second edition, reprinted from the Rudolph Ackerman Eclipse Sporting Gallery, 191, Regent original edition of 1657. PRINTED ON VELLUM. Bound in con- Street, 1842. First edition, frst issue. Bound in crimson temporary straight-grained green morocco, tooled in gilt and morocco with triple gilt fllet border, spines with fve raised blind, maroon watered silk endpapers, a.e.g. Fine. Preserved bands, richly gilt, inner dentelles gilt, a.e.g., by Lloyd. Joints in morocco-backed solander box. For an extensive commen- rubbed (front joint tender). Very good, plates fne and bright, tary on this work, see Westwood & Satchell, pp. 21-23. internally clean. Tooley 65. The only copy of this edition printed on vellum. “One copy “Considered by many to be the premier coloured plate sport- of the reprint by Burn was on vellum and is now in the ing book in the 19th century” (Tooley). Denison collection” (Westwood & Satchell). It reappeared in The added plates are two comic domestic scenes by Alken, the Davis sale at Sotheby’s on 26 November 1900, lot 16 (sold “The frst attempt at the Coach-Box” and “The Début or frst for £15.15.0), and again in the same rooms on 20 March 1967, attempt at the Brush.” where it was purchased by Thorp. According to an inserted note from John Simpson, it was probably originally the $2,500 Corser copy, sold at Sotheby’s in July 1868. $13,500 superb copy (BASEBALL) Spalding, Albert G. America’s National Game. Historic Facts Concerning the Beginning Evolution, Develop- ment and Popularity of Base Ball with Personal Reminiscences of Its Vicissitudes, Its Victories and Its Votaries. Cartoons by Homer C. Davenport. Portrait, frontis, illustrations, photo- graphs and plates (some folding). xix, [1], [1]-542 pp. Thick 8vo, New York: American Sports Publishing Company, 1911. First edition. Bright blue ribbed cloth, lettered in gilt, and with gilt depiction of Uncle Sam at bat on the upper cover. Front hinge with nearly imperceptible conservation repair. An unusually fresh, tight copy of a book most often seen in deplorable condition. One of the key works in the literature of baseball, by one of the prime movers in its codifcation and development. In ad- dition to his pitching career (which began in 1865), Spalding helped organize the National League, co-founded the Spald- ing sporting goods company, and published the frst ofcial rules guide for the game. This book was published four years prior to his death. $3,750
2 | james cummins bookseller twenty years of the “blue and buff”: with the badminton pack (BEAUFORT HUNT) Henry, Frank [Lt.-Col. Francis I.]. Hunting Register [cover title]. 18 Seasonal Diaries,1877-1898, recording Hunt Meets with the Beaufort Hunt and others. Dated manuscript entries in ink in copies of Spiers and Son’s Hunting Register, with holograph lists of Horses in Stable, various directions to binder, occasional inserted ephemera. 18 volumes bound in two. Oblong folio, [Elmestree, Tetbury, Gloucs.: 5 October 1877 to 23 March 1898]. Contemporary half navy blue morocco, cloth sides, spines titled in gilt. Some minor rubbing, superfcial traces of damp-staining to cloth, else fne and internally clean. Signifcant group of sporting diaries recording the participation of Lt.-Col. Francis Henry (d. 1931) at the meets of the Beaufort Hunt during a twenty-year period. Henry A.W.F. Somerset (1847-1924), ninth duke of Beaufort, was one of the great sportsmen of the nineteenth century, and the Badminton pack hunted a wide country with legendary energy. Hunstman Will Dale recalled that one season the pack hunted 186 days “and I was the only one of the frm who went the whole lot.” It was under the ninth duke that the Badminton Sporting Library series was produced (1885-1902). Frank Henry hunted with the Beaufort from 1866-7, served as Honorary Secretary for the hunt for more than two decades, and compiled the Members of the Beaufort Hunt Past and Present (privately printed, May 1914, see below), which includes a substantial historical appendix. His diaries record hunts with the Beaufort (the Dukes as he called it), as well as the Quorn, Lord Sufolk’s Harriers, Vale of the White Horse, the Cottesmore, and others. His residence at Elmestree, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, is still at the center of hunt country and adjoins Highgrove, the country residence of the Prince of Wales. Entries (October to April of each season) include date, pack, fxture (place of the meet), hack ridden to meet, hunter ridden, coverts drawn; foxes found, killed, or run to ground; weather; and usually a few lines of narrative summary of the day’s events. At his most active, Henry was hunting four and fve days a week. With an 1890 autograph letter, signed (“Beaufort”), from the ninth Duke, on mourning stationery; and several newspaper clippings. A sporting manuscript of outstanding interest. With a copy of: [HENRY, Frank, compiler]. Members of the Beaufort Hunt Past and Present. Printed in blue on buf paper. 80 pp. Cirencester: Standard Printing Works [for Private Circulation], 1914. The historical appendix, compiled by Henry, gives highlights, including Henry’s accounts of his best days with the Badminton pack, and the presentation to Henry of a portrait by John Bacon, R.A. in 1912. Henry noted that “Farmers and foxhunting go hand in hand” and that during his tenure as secretary subscriptions rose from 91 to 291 members. $3,500
catalogue 123 | 3 first american golf poet prepares material for publication BONNELLE, Frank J. Golf. Poetical Putts. [Mock-up of unpublished book]. [With:] [Archive of Golf Poetry and related materials]. 4to and smaller, [Boston: n.d., ca. 1905]. Overall very good. Not in OCLC or Donovan & Murdoch. Frank J. Bonnelle (1850-1921), a longtime editor at the Boston Herald, contributed a large number of occasional poems to that newspaper and was the frst contributor of poems to The Golfer, a periodical published in Boston at the turn of the 20th century (though not recorded on OCLC or in Donovan/Murdoch, the U.S.G.A. Library holds a run of The Golfer, 1895-1903) and the frst American periodical devoted exclusively to the sport. The Massachusetts Historical Society holds a small collection of Bonnelle family correspondence that includes some material involving Frank J. Bonnelle. 1. Golf: Poetical Putts. Mock-up for an unpublished book. Portrait frontispiece, printed title-page, 31 of Bonnelle’s long poems, each with a golfng theme, some illustrated, clipped from a periodical and mounted to the rectos of album leaves, 20 more golf- ing poems (clips, typescripts, or small printed broadsides), laid in; some of the poems have manuscript corrections, additions, or deletions. Spine perished. Titles of the poems include “On the Links,” “Her Caddie,” “The Unsuccessful Golfer,” “Hazards,” “The Golfer Who Loved and Lost,” “Fore!,” “A Ghost on the Green,” “Belinda of the Links,” “St. Nick and the Golfer,” “Caddie Macree of Lynn,” “A Sonnet to Golf,” “Poetical Putts,” and “Ye Ancient Boston Golfer,” among others. With additional material from the papers of the frst regularly published golfng poet in the United States: 2. Golf in Verse: A Series of Poetical Putts. [Boston, n.d., ca. 1910]. Original manuscript (carbon typescript; a typed and revised version of Golf: Poetical Putts?). 4to. [35] pp., rectos only, title-page, table of contents page, and 30 of Bonnelle’s long poems, each with a golfng theme; laid in are small printed broadsides (proofs?) of 15 of the poems included in the collection, a manuscript list of titles for inclusion, and two Bonnelle golfng poems clipped from a periodical. Very good. Original brown printed wrappers (spine worn). 3. Manuscript statement by Bonnelle (un- signed) concerning his work in the print- ing trade and newspaper business from apprenticeship at 15 in Iowa to his desk at the Boston Herald (8vo, six pages), on Boston Herald stationery. 4. Manuscript, signed, of Bonnelle’s golfng poem “A Reformed Golfer” (4to, one page, fve stanzas of four verses each), edgeworn. 5. Manuscript, signed, of of Bonnelle’s poem “An Ornithological Outing” (4to, fve pages, 12 stanzas of four verses each, small illustrations for each stanza, all in purple ink). 6. Letter of recommendation for Bonnelle from L.W. Myers, editor and proprietor of the Wapello, Iowa, Republican, 12 April 1871 (8vo, two pages), given as Bonnelle left the Midwest to pursue his career in the East. 7, Notebook (4to, 192 pp.), posthumous compilation of Bonnelle’s non-golfng poems mounted on both sides of sheets of paper, mostly arranged by topic, e.g., Christmas, Thanksgiving, other holidays, journalism, etc., and including clips from periodicals, typescripts, several signed manuscripts, small printed broadsides, etc., comprising hundreds of examples. $2,750
4 | james cummins bookseller (BOXING) 6 hand-colored prints of Regency boxers including: Wm. Eales, James Ward, Jack Randall, E. Baldwin, Joshua Hud- son, J. Goodman. Folio (16 x 10-¼ in., sight). Frame: 23-½ x 18-½ inches, London: S. Fores, Piccadilly, 1819-1820. Framed and glazed, some wear to frames. Prints slightly faded. $4,000
catalogue 123 | 5 the wrappers, not present here, were by Cruikshank). It was (BOXING) [Badcock, John]. The Fancy; or The True Sports- started in parts in 1821 and ran to 55 numbers. Some of the man’s Guide: Being Authentic Memoirs of the Lives, Actions, Prow- miscellaneous essays at the end of volume II are by Pierce ess, and Battles of the Leading Pugilists, from the Days of Fig Egan and are exact reprints of these same essays from his and Broughton, to the Championship of Ward. By an Operator. book Sporting Anecdotes (1825). RARE. With 57 plates, including 47 mostly stipple-engraved portraits, $6,000 colored pictorial title-page in each volume, and 8 plates of sporting scenes (2 colored, 2 folding). [i]-xv (contents), [i] – iv the first world title bout: the heenan-sayers fight of 1860 (introduction), [5]-680, [iii] – vi, [1, notice]; [i]-xii (contents), [1] – 743, [1, binder’s directions] pp. 2 vols. 8vo, London: Published by J. McGowan and Son 16 Great Windmill Street, (BOXING) The American Boxer! or, Guide to Self-Defence. 1826. First edition. Bound in full crimson morocco, with Portait of J. Heenan, The Benicia Boy as title-page vignette gilt-stamped boxing scene on upper covers, t.e.g. by Root. and on front wrapper. 16 pp. 8vo, [London: Wilkes, Farrah, & Almost fne. Magriel 35 (calling for 46 portraits); Hartley 1514; Dunbar, 47, Holywell Street, n.d., ca. 1860]. Orange wrap- Cohn 302; Plimpton, Foreword to Selections from The Fancy, pers, some soiling, chip at bottom corner of front cover (with 1977. small loss). Very good. Label of Ed. L. Wenrick, Rare Horse Books and Prints, 123 W. 62nd St., New York. Hartley 90 Substantial history of boxing and chronicle of sport in Eng- (“Little is known about this book”); OCLC records copies in land, with portraits of pugilists, including Bitton, the Jew, the British Library and Chicago History Museum. and Tom Molineux, a black man from Maryland. The other plates illustrate bull baiting, duck hunting, a rowdy scene in Ephemeral boxing publication issued on the eve of the London, and other sporting topics. The frst copy we have legendary Heenan-Sayers fght. The verso of the title-page had; only one copy in the auction records of the last three includes capsule biographies of the Irish American John C. decades. Heenan (“born in Troy, State of New York, in May 1835,” i.e., 1834) and English boxer Tom Sayers (born 1826). Heenan There is evidence to indicate that John Bee (John Badcock) came to England in January 1860 and the two faced of on 17 was responsible for at least the frst 16 numbers of the work. April 1860 near Farnborough. Heenan’s Irish heritage added Very rare and valuable (Cohn’s valuation was at £30; only 6 | james cummins bookseller to the rivalries and portents of the fght. After two hours Road, S.E, c. 1860. Framed. Not in Magriel. and twenty minutes, at the end of the 37th round, the police John Camel Heenan, called “The Benicia Boy,” was born broke into the inner ring and ended the meeting. Each fght- in Troy, NY. He was 6’2” and weighed 192 pounds. His er’s many partisans maintained their champion had come of ring career is curious, as he was one of the best American best (see the account partial to Sayers in Pugilistica 2:423 f.; or heavyweights, yet never won a championship fght. He as- “The Most Memorable Fight” in Wignall, The Story of Boxing, sumed the title Champion of America after John Morrissey pp. 165-188). The bout provoked discussions in Parliament announced his retirement and with his title challenged the and was widely reported throughout the newspapers on both British champion, Tom Sayer. This match, depicted here, was sides of the Atlantic. The fght was deemed a draw and both one of the best fought in ring history and although declared a men were presented with championship belts in May 1860. draw, Heenan won considerable renown. For a time Heenan The cover and title-page feature a woocut portrait of Heen- was married to the infamous Adah Isaacs Menken, but re- an, the Benicia Boy. The imprint is taken from the cover, the fused to acknowledge it. He died at the age of 39. title of which varies slightly from the title-page: The American Sayers’ career was outstanding. Although he weighed only Boxer: with New Rules and Regulations in the Art of Self-Defence. 160 pounds he fought and beat all comers for 12 years. His Page 14-16 comprise these rules. RARE. fght with Heenan, who outweighed him by 30 pounds made $1,500 him one of Britain’s most popular fgures of his time. Obitu- aries compared him to Wellington! This contest was the frst important international match. $1,250 (BOXING) Rowbotham, J.B. and J.B. Mackrell. “The Great Contest between Sayers & Heenan for £200 a Side & the Championship. The Fight lasted 2 H. 6 M. and resulted in a Draw. Fought near Farnborough on the 17th of April 1860.” Colored Lithographic Print. Engraved by J.B. Mackrell and J.B. Rowbotham. The Photographs by G. Bonner. 24 x 19 in., [London]: Published by C. Roker, 9 Cross Street, Old Kent catalogue 123 | 7 BOYER, Ralph L. “Fathers of American Sport.” The complete set of ORIGINAL STEEL-faced copper PLATES with a suite of the six aquatint portraits. Image size is approx.10-¼ x 8 in., each plate measuring appprox. 13-½ x 9-½ in., including margins, New York: The Derrydale Press, 1931. Fine condition. In six custom blue half morocco folding boxes. Ordeman, pp. 24-25 & p. 56. The six portraits, each set in an appropriate background, are of: SAMUEL MORRIS, ESQ., Foxhunter, frst president of the Gloucester Foxhunting Club, America’s oldest; COL. WILLIAM RANSOM JOHNSON, “Napoleon of the Turf ”; COL. GEORGE WASHINGTON, Foxhunter; COMMODORE JOHN COX STEVENS, Yachtsman, owner of the America and a founder of the New York Yacht Club; THADDEUS NORRIS, ESQ., Angler, author of The American Angler’s Book, who did much to elevate and advance the art of fy fshing; HENRY WILLIAM HERBERT, ESQ., “Frank Forester,” the father of American sporting literature. Published in an edition of 250. UNIQUE SET OF THE ORIGINAL printing PLATES For ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE OF THE DERRYDALE PRESS SPORTING PRINTS SERIES. $9,000
8 | james cummins bookseller catalogue 123 | 9 boyer’s originals BOYER, Ralph L. “Fathers of American Sport.” The ORIGINAL SIX WATERCOLORS of this famous Derrydale Press set, signed by the artist “R.L. Boyer.” Together with a set of PROOFS BEFORE LETTERS, with what is evidently the artist’s modelling and coloring, each signed by him in pencil (one, unsigned, is in print state, with legend engraved in lower margin). Image size of the prints is approximately 10 x 8 in., the plate measuring 13 x 9-½ in., with additional margins. Each plate is archivally matted; the paint- ings measure 12 x 9-½ in., and are docketed and captioned in pencil in the lower margins, New York: The Derrydale Press, 1931. Ordeman notes that “it is rare that one fnds a complete set today.” The watercolors are handsomely and uniformly matted in fne French mats; the proofs in a more simple uniform matting; a few of the watercolors show faint foxing, but both sets are clean, bright, and highly attractive. Custom half morocco slipcase and cloth chemise. Ordeman, The Aquatints, Drypoints and Etchings of The Derrydale Press, p. 24-5, et seq. An extremely handsome and decorative set of American sporting notables. The six portraits, each set in an appropriate back- ground, are of: SAMUEL MORRIS, ESQ., Foxhunter, frst president of the Gloucester Foxhunting Club, America’s oldest; COL. WILLIAM RANSOM JOHNSON, “Napoleon of the Turf ”; COL. GEORGE WASHINGTON, Foxhunter; COMMODORE JOHN COX STEVENS, Yachtsman, owner of the “America” and a founder of the New York Yacht Club; THADDEUS NORRIS, ESQ., Angler, author of The American An- gler’s Book, who did much to elevate and advance the art of fy fshing; HENRY WILLIAM HERBERT, ESQ., “Frank Forester,” the father of American sporting literature. Boyer’s watercolors, done in larger size, were reduced to edition dimensions of approximately 10 x 8 inches. The proof prints before letters have been reworked by Boyer, who has signed each one, and show a depth and richness of modelling that the pub- lished edition, for all its beauty, does not. This set was one of the fnest productions of The Derrydale Press Sporting Print Series. We believe the set of proofs to be unique, and the original paintings are, of course, unquestionably so. Both have survived in prime condition to delight the collector and historian of the American sporting scene. A UNIQUE TREASURE OF AMERICAN SPORTING ART. $15,000
10 | james cummins bookseller catalogue 123 | 11 original illustrations for the medchester club BROADHEAD, W. Smithson. Complete set of eight original illustrations for The Medchester Club, by Kenneth Brown. Pencil and charcoal, heightened with white, on illustration board, each signed. Images about 15 x 9-½ in., plus margins bearing various print- ers’ instructions in pencil, n.p: n.d., ca. 1938. Fine condition. Half morocco folding box. With a copy of the published book in half morocco slipcase and chemise. Siegel 134; Frazier B-16-a. Provenance: Duncan Andrews. The Medchester Club, by Kenneth Brown, is a collection of short stories of country life and sport. Seven of Broadhead’s fnely executed drawings deal with equestrian subjects, and one is on a golfng theme; these were Broadhead’s only Derrydale Press illustrations. $8,000
12 | james cummins bookseller the derrydale polo prints — paul brown at his peak BROWN, Paul. “American Polo Scenes.” Hand-colored aquatint engravings. “Down the Field”; “On the Boards”; “The Save”; & “The Goal.” Signed lower left by the artist. Image size 13 x 20 in., New York: The Derrydale Press, 1930. One of 175. Matted. In half red morocco binding. Ordeman, pp. 33-36, 103; Biscotti, p. 114. Ordeman says these “are among the most sought after and expensive Derrydale prints.” A superb presentation of these lively, carefullly observed sporting scenes. $6,500
catalogue 123 | 13 deluxe issue, with spectacular paul brown drawing BROWN, Paul. Aintree. Grand Nationals — Past and Present. Illustrated by the Author and from photographs. Introduction by Henry G. Vaughn, M.F.H. xxi, [iii], 191 pp. 4to, New York: The Derrydale Press, 1930. Deluxe issue, no. 8 of 50 copies, signed by Brown on the half-title and with a large, elaborate pen-and-ink drawing signed and dated by Brown. Bound in full red morocco with gilt-stamped emblematic tooling. Laid into a half red morocco drop box with Derrydale logo on spine in gilt and on upper leather label. Siegel 35; Frazier B-17-D; Podeschi, p. 375. The magnifcent deluxe issue of this classic of steeplechasing. The original large-format drawing (12 x 18 inches) appears in the printed book as a plate opposite p. 9 (much reduced), with the caption “Six horses down at one time.” Rare and spectacular. $7,500
14 | james cummins bookseller BROWN, William Robinson. The Horse of the Desert. Color plate after Harrington Bird and hitherto unpublished work of Henry Alken, many black and white half-tone. [2, half-title, verso blank], [i, title]-[iv], v-xxvii, [xxviii-xxx], 1-218 pp. Large 4to, New York: Derrydale Press, 1929. First edition, no. 44 of 75 large paper copies signed by the author. Full blue morocco with emblematic gilt tooling. Faintest traces of rubbing at extremities. Fine. Custom half morocco folding box. Siegel 25; Frazier B-19-D. “Everything about this Deluxe Derrydale makes it a regal example of Connett’s art” (Frazier). $7,500
catalogue 123 | 15 CLARK, Roland. [Album of 6 etchings and aquatint engravings from the personal collection of Eugene V. Connett, III]. 3 etch- ings, 3 aquatint engravings colored by hand, each signed or inscribed by the artist. Folio, New York: The Derrydale Press, 1927- 1939. Each print of a small limitation, as noted. Recent half red morocco album, printed title leaf, each print window-matted in heavy card mounts, by Aquarius. Fine. Ordeman, To Keep a Tryst with the Dawn, pp. 107-8; Siegel 139; Frazier C-7. A beautiful presentation of Roland Clark prints from the personal collection of Eugene V. Connett, III, publisher of the Derrydale Press. Comprising: 1) “Home Waters.” Drypoint etching, frst proof impression of a scene of nine ducks in fight, used as the frontispiece to the large-format Derrydale retrospective Roland Clark’s Etchings with the title “The Morning Flight.” The published etching includes Clark’s monogram in lower left (added subsequent to this proof ). Ordeman does not note a proof impression in his discussion of the published book. This print is signed and inscribed by the artist “First Proof — to Gene Connett June 10, 1938”; in the foreword to the book, Connett writes “My friend, Roland Clark, has asked me to write a short foreword to this book of his etchings, and, as I obviously admire his work, it is a great pleasure for me to accede to his request … That his art has received widespread recogni- tion in this country is common knowledge; but it is not so well known that a large number of his etchings have been sold abroad where the quality of his work is highly appreciated.” The foreword is dated June 14, 1938. A unique state of this print, with a fne and meaningful association. 2) “Bluebird Weather.” Drypoint etching, frst proof impression, 1938. 3) “The Alarm.” Hand-colored aquatint, 1937. Edition of 250. Copy no. 1. 4) “The Scout.” Hand-colored aquatint, 1938. Edition of 250. Copy no. 1. 5) “Winter Marsh. Canvasback.” Hand-colored aquatint, 1937. Edition of 250. Copy no. 1. 6) “A Memory.” Drypoint etching of twelve ducks in fight above a marsh, 1928. Edition of 75. Inscribed to Mrs. Connett. Roland Clark’s Etchings (1938) no. 29. $12,500
16 | james cummins bookseller A selection of the fne sporting prints of Roland Clark, published by Frank Lowe, continuing the series of prints published by the Derrydale Press from 1937 to 1942.