HIGHLY DESIRABLE BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY OF A SPORTING GENTLEMAN

HIGHLY DESIRABLE BOOKS FROM THE LIBRARY OF A SPORTING GENTLEMAN

 

Recently I agreed to help a sometime customer dispose of a portion of his carefully accumulated sporting library. Once I had the first group of books in hand I realized that he had put great emphasis on top-quality books, those with some special appeal (such as being signed, being limited editions, having letters of historic significance tipped in, and the like), and the legendary Nash Buckingham. The list which follows offers a number of truly obscure and highly desirable items, including a couple of examples of things I’ve never seen in decades of collecting and dealing in sporting books. Also included are a few special items from my own holdings. I’ve tried to offer especially detailed descriptions, and I think you’ll find the prices reasonable and realistic. That isn’t always the case in today’s world of books. Every day I see items offered at prices far beyond their worth. Sometimes it is almost ridiculous, such as books I have written an which are currently in print and available at list price being offered for two or three times what I get (and I can sign them on top of that).

You won’t find any price gouging here.–just fair offers for some exceptional items not likely to come your way again and certain to hold a place of grace and prominence on the shelves of any sporting bibliophile. My usual terms apply as noted below.

Prices are net. S.C. residents will be charged 7 percent tax.

In the U.S., shipping is $5 for first book and $2.50 for each subsequent book. There are no shipping charges on domestic orders over $200. Postage and handling charges are appreciably higher for foreign/international buyers because such shipments can only go by priority mail rate – please contact me for a postage quotation.

Insurance is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for all orders, and sender cannot be responsible for lost books. Accordingly, I recommend insurance $3 for the first $100 and $1.50 for each subsequent $100 in value. I have had enough problems with the U. S. Postal Service (USPS) to come to the reluctant conclusion that insurance is very important. If a shipment which is uninsured doesn’t make it, I will provide proof of shipment.

Unless you wish to pay for a faster rate, books are shipped via book rate through the USPS , and delivery generally takes seven to ten days from the date you submit your order. I try to mail orders out the day they are received. If I do not respond immediately I am out of town. Please be assured that I will contact you as soon as I return.

Payment by personal check, cashier’s check, money order, or through PayPal is accepted. I do not handle credit cards directly, although you can use them with a PayPal account. If you need help using PayPal, please contact PayPal Customer Service at 1-888-221-1161.

To order online with PayPal utilize the add to cart buttons found below each book entry and if insurance is desired please use the add to cart buttons below to purchase. NOTE: After placing an item in your cart, the PayPal cart can be seen on this page just above the book lists.

Insurance up to $100 ($3.00)


Additional insurance $100 ($1.50)

To pay by personal check, cashier’s check, or money order please contact Jim Casada at 1250 Yorkdale Drive, Rock Hill, SC 29730-7638; Phone 803-329-4354; E-mail jimcasada@comporium.net.

William “Chubby” Andrews, Nash Buckingham, Beaver Dam and Other Hunting Tales. Germantown, TN: Privately published by the author, 1993. Hardbound in dust jacket. [ii]. 272 pages. Profusely illustrated with photos from the author’s collection. Folio size. This is the first printing of the first edition, a limited, numbered edition of 400, with the regular trade edition being a printing of 3300 copies. This copy is warmly inscribed, and at length, to Robin Mitchell, with the inscription covering most of the title page. It is copy #110 of 400. Very fine composite leather binding with all edges gilt, gilt decoration on front cover and gilt on spine, ribbon marker, and slipcase. Unusually for slipcased books, it also has a dust jacket (likely added after the fact) which, while a bit wrinkled, is in very good shape. Matching green slipcase is very fine. Andrews was a dear friend of Mr. Buck’s and, in many senses, cared for him and his financial situation in the great writer’s later years. $425.

Russell Annabel, Tales of a Big Game Guide. NY: Derrydale Press, 1938. [xii], 198 pages. Illustrated (photos). Copy #460 of 950. Fair copy. Previous owner’s red stamp on front endpaper, title page, and rear endpaper. Front spine cracked, linen corners worn, and spine label has a tiny chip missing. Internally clean. $200.

Havilah Babcock, My Health Is Better in November. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1947. [iv], 284 pages. Illustrated with drawings by Augusta Rembert Wittkowsky. Very good copy of the first edition. No dust jacket. $60.

Havilah Babcock, Tales of Quails ‘n Such. NY: Greenberg, 1951. xii, 237 pages. Illustrated by William Schaldach including a frontis plate of a covey of quail settling down for the night and a decorative cover to the quarter leather binding showing a hunter and a dog on point on the front and Canada geese in flight on the back. Copy #97 of a limited edition of 299 copies. Signed “Best wishes, Havilah Babcock” on the blank front sheet preceding the limitation page. Book is in very good plus condition and of fine appearance externally. The only flaws are remnants of a previous owner’s return address label on the front endpaper and slight bleeding from the green edged top paper to two preliminary pages. The gilt lettering on the spine, which features raised hubs, is bright, the binding is tight, and the corners crisp. Babcock did not sign a lot of books, and this is arguably the most elusive of all Babcock items. First edition, first printing. No dust jacket, as issued. $350.

Philip H. Babcock, Falling Leaves: Tales from a Gun Room. NY: Derrydale Press, 1937. [x], 201 pages. Illustrated by Aiden Ripley. Copy #34 of a limited edition of 950 copies. Good copy. Some rubbing to exterior and lower front hinge is beginning to crack. $95.

D. M. Bell, Bell of Africa (with an Introduction by Townsend Whelen). Suffolk: Neville Spearman, 1984. xvi, 236 pages. Hardback in dust jacket. Illustrated. 4th impression. Book fine and dust jacket very good. $80.

Nash Buckingham, Blood Lines: Tales of Shooting & Fishing (with a Foreword by Henry P. Davis).  NY: The Derrydale Press, 1938. xxii, 227 pages. Illustrated (photographs). Copy #1238 of an edition of 1250. Good plus copy. Front medallion of a duck in flight is nice, spine is darkened, as usual and edges show slight wear. Short presentation to a previous owner on front endpaper.  $300.

Another copy. This one #683, in comparable condition. $300.

Nash Buckingham, Game Bag: Tales of Shooting and Fishing (“Fo’word” by Paul Flowers). NY: G. P. Putnam’s, 1945. Hardback. xvi, 185 pages. Illustrated by H. P. A. M. Hoecker. Signed copy #1195 of 1250 copies. Good copy. Spine label bright and fully intact. Some wear to edges and corners and slight foxing to a few pages in the latter part of the book. $125.

Nash Buckingham, Mark Right!: Tales of Shooting and Fishing. NY: Derrydale Press, 1936. xvii, 250 pages. Illustrated (including a grand photo of Horace, Nash’s oft-described Negro sidekick, as the frontispiece). Copy #1066 of 1250. Book would be near fine except the front hinge is broken. Medallion of a pair of quail is bright, as is gilt on spine. For some reason that is inexplicable, given the print runs being similar, this is the most difficult of the Buckingham Derrydales to locate. Fine copies sell for $600 or more. $275.

Nash Buckingham, “Mr. Buck: The Autobiography of Nash Buckingham. Traverse City, MI: Countrysport Press, 1990. 287 pages. Hardbound in slipcase. Executive edition of 250 copies signed by Irma Buckingham O’Fallon (there was also a limited edition of 1500 copies and a trade edition). Illustrated, signed and numbered original etching by Herb Booth for this edition only, ribbon marker, raised hubs on spine, gilt decorative front cover and gilt on spine. Copy #95. Bonded leatherette. Very fine in very fine maroon slipcase (which has a facsimile and Buckingham’s distinctive signature in his beautiful handwriting on its front) matching the color of the book’s cover.  A must for the Buckingham collector. $250.

Nash Buckingham, Ole Miss’ (with a Foreword by Paul Curtis). NY: Derrydale Press, 1937.xx, 242 pages. Illustrated. Copy #673 of 1250 copies. Very good copy. Front medallion is bright; gilt of title and other information on the spine is dull. Shows wear at the top and bottom of the spine and to corners. The book is warmly inscribed and signed to J. Darby Taylor, a resident of Birmingham, Michigan and a friend of Nash’s who for many years worked for Western Cartridge Company: The inscription reads: “Dear Darb, With the author’s hopes that somehow some day we’ll renew gunning days together along Ole Miss. Faithfully, Nash Buckingham. At home, Memphis, Tennessee 11-27-’39. Tipped in, and this even more than the inscription, are Buckingham letters (and other material) which make this a treasure.   The first is dated Mar. 1, 1928 and is written from The American Wild Fowlers, 508 Lenox Bldg., Washington, D. C. In the typed, two-page letter, signed by Buckingham at the end, he mentions hunting, having left his position with Western Cartridge Company, notable acquaintances, and more. Then come carbon copies of two letters Taylor wrote to Buckingham, dated Jan. 6, 1939 and Oct. 24, 1939.There’s an envelope from Buckingham to Taylor dated Jan. 9 (presumably a reply to the Jan. 6 missive), but the letter is missing. Then there are two more typed letters from Buckingham, dated April 28 and May 27, 1941. Both are fairly long, chatty, and touch everything from the war in Europe to memories of some marvelous biscuits. Altogether a really special group of items for the Buckingham fan. $1000.

Another copy, this one with a nice inscription by Buckingham on the front endpaper which reads: “For Dr. Fisher Foulke with the author’s assurances of the most profound consideration and hope that you will shoot muchly and long. Nash Buckingham. At home. Memphis.” Copy #174 of 1250. Very good plus with medallion of feeding Canada geese bright and spine gilt only slightly dulled. Minimal wear to edges. $450.

Nash Buckingham, De Shootinest Gent’man and Other Tales (with an Introduction by Col. Harold P. Sheldon). NY: Derrydale Press, 1934. [xviii], 240 pages. Illustrated. Copy #898 of 950. About good. The front hinge is broken and a new owner would likely want to repair it, the spine is darkened (as is usual), and the book shows wear. The front medallion of a pair of canvasbacks in flight is bright. A previous owner’s name and a gift inscription are on the front endpaper. $400.

Another copy, this one the 1961 edition from Thomas Nelson and Sons. The title notwithstanding, this is a dramatically different book from the Derrydale Press version. Most of the stories are different and the Sheldon Introduction is not included. The illustrations are by Hamilton Greene. The book has a fairly nice dust jacket but the buckram is worn through at the corners and there tape stains on the front and rear endpapers. The work’s greatest appeal is a nice inscription and signature on the title page: For Playton Horshall (?), with the author’s every good wish that you will know the pleasures reveal in these gleanings from yesterday. Good luck & God bless you. Nash Buckingham.” $75

Nash Buckingham, Tattered Coat (with a Foreword by Edward Cave). NY:  G. P. Putnam’s, 1944. Hardback. xiv, 210 pages, Illustrated with photos and artwork by Arthur Fuller. Limited, signed edition of 995 copies of which this is copy #172. Good copy with spine a bit darkened and front hinge starting to crack. Lacks dust jacket but paste-on title and front cover label of Fuller artwork are present. $150.

Roland Clark, Stray Shots. NY: Derrydale Press, 1931. [viii], ii, 125 pages. Illustrated with drypoints by the author. Printed in a limited edition of 535 copies. Only the deluxe edition of 35 (of the 535 copies) was numbered. Good copy only of one of the most desirable Derrydale. There is some water damage to the top front and back cover, although the light has to be right for it to be noticeable and three of the preliminary pages show very slight water stains at the top. The front hinge is beginning to crack internally. Corners a bit bumped. Cover illustration of two Canada geese highlighted against a background moon is nice and bright. Even with the described problems a nice copy of a book which is extremely difficult to locate. Top quality copies sell for as much as $2500. $525.

Eugene Connett, Random Casts. NY: Derrydale Press, 1939. xxii, 195 pages. Illustrated by Ralph L. Boyer and Milton C. Weiler. Copy #811 of 1075 copies. A lovely copy with the front cover illustration of a fly and line on the water (cover is made to appear like water) along with the author’s name and the title, all it gilt which is exceptionally bright. As a plus, the book comes with a really nice slipcase (this was done later—the book was not issued with one). Fine copy with just hints of wear to top and bottom of spine and with an unobtrusive label from The Sporting Gallery and Bookshop on the front endpaper. It is unread as is indicated by some pages being uncut. $300.

Demidoff, Prince San Donato, After Wild Sheep in the Altai and Mongolia. Encino, CA: Trophy Room Books, n. d. (1983). xii, 324 pages. Illustrated, index. Hardbound in slipcase and with a folded map in rear pocket. A facsimile reprint of the 1900 edition, limited to 275 copies, signed by Timothy Best of Rowland Ward and Ellen Enzler Herring, the publisher. This copy #190. Book is fine with a small slightly off color spot on the spine and slipcase is very good. $150.

Early American Hunters. NY: Derrydale Press, 1928. [vi], 41 pages.  Hand painted frontispiece of a cougar. Copy #51 of an edition of 375. One of the early Derrydales, this one is in exceptionally nice condition with the original glassine protective cover still present. Both the front and spine labels are present and the book is crisp, showing minimal wear. Overall about fine.  $175.

Lou Hallamore and Bruce Woods, Chui! A Guide to Hunting the African Leopard. Agoura, CA: Trophy Room Books, 1994. Xiv, 238 pages. Illustrated. Copy #424 of the limited, numbered, and signed edition of 1000. Signed by Woods on the limitation page and a second signature with a brief inscription on the front endpaper. Very fine in a fine dust jacket. $250.

Bob Housholder, Hunting and Guiding for Desert Bighorn Sheep. Mesilla, NM: Wild Sheep and Goat International, 1989. 147 pages. Illustrated. Copy #14 of a limited edition of 500 copies. Signed and inscribed by the author. No dust jacket (issued thus?). Grained leatherette and gilt title on spine. Very fine.  $300.

Gordon MacQuarrie, Stories of the Old Duck Hunters, More Stories of the Old Duck Hunters. and Last Stories of the Old Duck Hunters (all compiled and edited by Zack Taylor). Oshkosh, WI: Willow Creek Press, 1985. 223, 198, 151 pages. A trilogy, all in deep burgundy binding with a matching slipcase. Gilt titles on spine and gilt decoration to front of each book. The books and slipcase are very fine. $200.

Rutherford G. Montgomery, High Country. NY: Derrydale Press, 1938. xii, 248 pages. Illustrated with photographs. One of a printing of 950 copies, this one unnumbered but with “R” (presumably a review copy). About fine with front and spine clean and bright. Unread because a number of pages are uncut. The nicest copy I’ve seen of this book. You can find in cheaper but not in anything approaching the condition of this one. $200.

H. Patterson, The Man-Eaters of Tsavo (with a Foreword by F. C. Selous). London: Macmillan and Co., 1934. xvi, 351 pages. Illustrated. A later and smaller edition of this very popular book, but it is SIGNED. I’ve only seen two signed Pattersons ever, and both were in public collections. The inscription on the front end paper reads: “to Mr. Simmons Welles (?) with admiration and regards from the author, J. H. Patterson.” Book is in very good condition in original blue cloth. $600.

Archibald Rutledge, Home By the River. Indianapolis and NY: Bobbs-Merrill, 1941. Hardback in dust jacket. 167 pages plus suite of black-and-white photos at end. 1st trade edition with the map of Hampton as endpapers.  Book is very good plus, dust jacket, enclosed in glassine, is poor. $50.

A.S. Salley, Jr., The Happy Hunting Ground. Columbia, SC: The State Company, 1924. Xii, 83 pages. Ilustrated (vintage photographs). Ex lib. copy, with front label removed, rear pocket still in place, and marking on spine. Fair only condition, with front corners rubbed through. Internally clean other than a hand-written library holding number on the dedication page, and the binding is tight. An exceedingly rare item.  $250.

Col. Harold P. Sheldon, Tranquillity: Tales of Sport with the Gun (Introduction by Nash Buckingham). NY: Derrydale Press, 1936. xxii, 216 pages. Copy #861 of 950. Illustrated by Ralph L. Boyer. Very good copy (gilt title on spine fade a bit, signs of wear to edges and corners) of one of the most readable of all the Derrydales. $175.

Raul Valdez, Lords of the Pinnacles: Wild Goats of the World. Mesilla, NM: Wild Sheep and Goat International, 1985. Vi, 212 pages. Illustrated, index. Hardback in dust jacket. Limited edition of 1000 copies of which this is #136. Signed by the author. Book and dust jacket very fine. $200.

Facing the Charge: African Dangerous Game (by Michael J. Miller as told to Scott Longman). If you enjoy stirring tales of adventure in the “Dark Continent,” this book is an irresistible “must read.” It includes a Foreword by Fiona Capstick, lots of striking photos, and is beautifully laid out and designed. Copies of the folio-size book are $60

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