A handsome copy of the first edition of William Scrope's classic account of salmon fishing on the river Tweed.

Scrope (1772-1852) 'was an excellent classical scholar, a keen sportsman, and one of the ablest amateur artists of his time. He painted views in Scotland, Italy, Sicily, and elsewhere, and exhibited occasionally from 1808 at the Royal Academy, and later at the British Institution, of which he was one of the most active directors. He was frequently assisted in his work by William Simson. None the less, Scrope perhaps achieved more general acclaim for his two well-known books, The Art of Deerstalking (1838) and Days and Nights of Salmon-Fishing in the Tweed (1843), each illustrated with plates after Edwin and Charles Landseer, David Wilkie, W. Simson, and others, and each reprinted thrice, up to 1894 and 1921 respectively. Scrope rented a place near Melrose, where he lived on terms of great intimacy with Sir Walter Scott. He was a member of the Accademia di San Luca at Rome, and a fellow of the Linnean Society' (ODNB).

First edition; 8vo (25 x 15.5 m); additional lithographic pictorial title and 12 lithographed plates, several partially hand-coloured, gift inscription in pen to front free endpaper verso, occasional light spotting; 20th-century half red morocco, red cloth boards ruled in gilt, gilt spine in 6 compartments, top-edge gilt, minor wear, very good; xvii, [3], 298pp.