Lot 173
Gunnery
Collection of works, 19th and early 20th century
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 21 September 2023 at 10:00 BST
Description
Boucher, John. The Volunteer Rifleman and the Rifle ... Second edition, greatly enlarged. London: W. O. Mitchell, 1859. Inscribed by 'To William Roupell Esqre M.P., with the author's compliments' on the title-page, 8vo, original cloth, engraved frontispiece, 4 plates (of which 2 folding), bookplate to front pastedown, lacking front free endpaper, frontispiece offset, rear inner hinge slightly cracked;
Baker, Ezekiel. Remarks on Rifle Guns: being the Result of Forty Years Practice and Observations. With Specific Remarks on Fowling Pieces. London: E. Baker, 1821. Eighth edition, 8vo, contemporary half morocco, gilt red morocco to front board, [6] 140 pp., half-title, 12 engraved plates (most hand-coloured), without 8 pp. supplement noted in other copies;
Dove, Patrick Edward. The Revolver. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1857. First edition, first issue, 8vo, original red pictorial boards, 5 wood-engraved plates, loss to spine;
Idem. The Revolver. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1858. First edition, second issue, 8vo, original blue pictorial boards, 5 wood-engraved plates, loss to spine;
Busk, Hans. The Rifleman's Manual; or, Rifles, and how to use them. London: Charles Noble, [1858]. Second edition, original cloth, rebacked, bookplate of Henk Visser, ownership inscriptions;
Noel, J. B. L. The Automatic Pistol. London: Forster Groom & Co., Ltd., c.1919. First edition, small 8vo, original tan cloth;
Lancaster, Charles. An Illustrated Treatise on the Art of Shooting. London: McCorquodale and Co. Limited, 1889. First edition, 8vo, original green cloth, advertisement endpapers, halftone photographic frontispiece, plates, covers slightly marked, fraying to spine-ends, tips bumped, inner hinges strengthened, spotting, damp-stain to head of gutter, a few plates strengthened in margins or gutter [Chute 378: 'The first purely practical work on how to shoot straight and safely'];
and 27 others, on rifles, pistols, machine guns, etc., original cloth
Footnote
Note: William Roupell (1831-1909), recipient of this copy of Boucher's Volunteer Rifleman, was a Liberal politician whose career ended in disgrace after he was convicted of forging wills and property deeds in a famous court case. Dove's Revolver is rare in libraries and in commerce: Library Hub traces one copy only of each issue in British and Irish institutions.