[Rarebooks] fa: JOSEPH STRUTT - SPORTS AND PASTIMES OF THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND - 140 HAND-COLORED ENGRAVINGS

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Monday, Feb. 20. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/6wudbam

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.


Joseph Strutt: The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England; Including the Rural and Domestic Recreations, May Games, Mummeries, Shows, Processions, Pageants, and Pompous Spectacles, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. London: Printed for William Hone, 1830. Large 8vo (25 cm) in period diced calf, rebacked with the original spine laid down; all page edges marbled; xvi + 420 pp.; half-title page; hand-colored woodcut engravings throughout.

The third edition and the first to include William Hone's preface and copious index. One of the uncommon copies with the charming engravings hand-colored. Strutt's sweeping work covers everything from the familiar to the hair-raising or downright bizarre, from archery, bowling, hunting, and chess to bear baiting, lowbelling, titling and spears. Included is an early description of golf, here called "goff."

Front hinge cracked at the top but the front board is secure, bumping and wear to the corners; interior hinges reinforced with cloth, leaves mildly age-toned with a few occasional spots and stains, otherwise quite clean and crisp, firmly bound. A solid, handsome copy.