The Badminton Library Shooting Field and Covert Lord Walsingham Payne-Gallwey Antique Sporting Book Provenance

Shop > British Studio Pottery

Product: 8455540
  • Product: 8455540
  • Product: 8455540
  • Product: 8455540
  • Product: 8455540
  • Product: 8455540
  • Product: 8455540

  • The Badminton Library Shooting Field and Covert Lord Walsingham Payne-Gallwey Antique Sporting Book Provenance

  • £75.00

:  at  £75.00  each

THE BADMINTON LIBRARY – SHOOTING: FIELD AND COVERT By Lord Walsingham & Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey A wonderfully evocative antique sporting volume from the celebrated Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes, made considerably more interesting by its handwritten ownership inscriptions and an unusual period photographic plate associated with the companion volume, Shooting: Moor and Marsh. This is not a pristine decorative copy – it is a genuinely old book that has clearly been owned, read and passed down. For me, that history is a large part of its appeal. THE BOOK Shooting: Field and Covert was written by Lord Walsingham and Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, with contributions by the Hon. Gerald Lascelles and A. J. Stuart-Wortley. The volume covers the world of late Victorian shooting in remarkable detail, including the history and choice of guns, partridge and pheasant shooting, game rearing, rabbits and vermin, keepers, poaching, dogs and dog-breaking and pigeon shooting. The original brown pictorial cloth binding is particularly attractive, with the characteristic illustrated Badminton Library design to the front board. THE AUTHORS Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham (1843–1919) was a prominent Victorian sportsman and naturalist. His experience of shooting and field sports made him an exceptionally appropriate author for the Badminton Library. His co-author, Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey (1848–1916), was another noted English sportsman and prolific writer on shooting, firearms and sporting subjects. Rather than being written simply by observers, Field and Covert drew heavily upon the extensive practical sporting experience of its authors. THE BADMINTON LIBRARY The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes was one of the great late-Victorian series devoted to British sporting life. The series was conceived as an authoritative library written by people with genuine expertise in their respective sports. Shooting was issued in two companion volumes: Field and Covert and Moor and Marsh. PROVENANCE & INSCRIPTIONS This particular copy becomes much more interesting once its internal history is considered. Among the handwritten inscriptions is the name: CECIL MOFFATT GOODRICH COURT HEREFORDSHIRE Goodrich Court was the remarkable Gothic Revival country house overlooking the River Wye in Herefordshire. There is also an earlier inscription dated 1898, together with a later ownership inscription dated: JANUARY 29th 1933 The later name appears to begin “Nigel”, although portions of the handwriting are difficult to decipher and I have deliberately not presented uncertain readings as fact. Together, the inscriptions provide a fascinating record of the book passing through different hands over several decades. THE JOHN BUCKLE / MERTON ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE Also associated with this copy is a photographic portrait plate identifying: JOHN BUCKLE HEAD KEEPER MERTON ESTATE Research into the image produced an unexpected discovery. The portrait is associated with the companion Badminton Library volume Shooting: Moor and Marsh rather than Field and Covert, and forms part of material concerning generations of head keepers. Merton in Norfolk was the estate of Lord Walsingham – one of the authors of this very book. That creates a particularly intriguing association between the inserted/retained plate and the authorship of the volume. I cannot establish when or by whom the plate became associated with this particular copy of Field and Covert, so I am not claiming that it was originally issued with this volume. It is, however, a fascinating piece of sporting ephemera with a direct connection to the world in which Lord Walsingham lived and wrote. CONDITION This is an antique book showing genuine signs of its age and use. The original pictorial cloth boards show rubbing, fading, marks, scuffs and general wear, particularly around the edges and spine. There is age-related wear internally consistent with a book of this period. Importantly, there are NO LOOSE PAGES. The historic handwritten inscriptions remain present and form an important part of the character and provenance of the book. Please examine all photographs carefully. They form an integral part of the condition description and I am very happy for this copy to be judged as an authentic, well-used survivor rather than a pristine example. WHY THIS COPY IS DIFFERENT Ordinary copies of the Badminton Library can still be found. This one is considerably more interesting. It combines: • An important Victorian sporting title • Original pictorial Badminton Library binding • Multiple historic ownership inscriptions • A Goodrich Court, Herefordshire association • An ownership date of 1898 • A further dated inscription from 1933 • A John Buckle, Head Keeper, Merton Estate photographic plate • A direct contextual connection between Merton Estate and author Lord Walsingham It is precisely the sort of book where the history accumulated around the volume has become almost as interesting as the printed book itself. A wonderful object for a collector of antiquarian sporting books, British country-house history, gamekeeping, shooting memorabilia, Victorian social history or the Badminton Library itself.