Oriental field sports,
being a complete, detailed, and accurate Description of the wild Sports of the East, and exhibiting, in a novel and interesting Manner, the Natural History of the Elephant, the Rhinoceros, the Tiger, the Leopard, the Bear, the Deer, the Buffalo, the Wolf, the Wild Hog, the Jackall, the Wild Dog, the Civet, and other undomesticated Animals, as likewise the different Species of feathered Game, Fishes, and Serpents.
London, Thomas M'Lean, 1819
Captain Williamson was an extremely talented amateur artist who had built up a fine collection of sketches suitable for turning in to aquatint. He teamed up with Howett - a notable sportsman as well as an industrious engraver of animals to produce this magnificent work, widely considered to contain the finest images of field sports of the Orient. By their very nature aquatint books were always very expensive, but the British public had a great curiosity about India and Williamson's work helped satisfy this desire to know more about the customs of Britain's new addition to its empire.
Landscape folio (45.1 x 56.9 cm), [4], ii, [2], 146, [4] pp., with 40 hand-coloured aquatint plates; a few short marginal tears, tear to plate I repaired, occasional light dust-staining and spotting; contemporary red straight-grained morocco, borders and lozenge roll-tooled in gilt and blind, spine gilt in compartments, lettered directly in one, all edges gilt; neatly rebacked and recornered, a little worn at extremities, corners bumped, nonetheless a very good copy.
Abbey (Travel), 427; Cf. Schwerdt II, p. 299; cf. Czech, p. 228; cf. 'Paul Mellon Collection', p. 202; Tooley 508.
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