Sportsman's Portfolio of American Field Sports.

Boston, (MA): M.M. Ballou, 1855. First edition (a second edition was issued by the Derrydale Press in 1929), originally published serially in "Gleason's". Oblong 4to. Engraved title-page with vignette, 20 plates of sporting subjects, each with a facing page of descriptive text) as called for in the index, with an additional plate on the verso of the final leaf. "[This book] may be described as the most profusely illustrated early sporting book published in America, as it contains twenty superb woodcuts delineating the various field sports practiced at the time [all hunting and fishing]" (Ernest Gee, in the introduction to the 1929 Derrydale Press facsimile). Subjects pictured and described include "Trout Fishing," "Salmon Fishing," "Bass Fishing," "Woodcock Shooting," "Grouse Shooting," "Duck Shooting," "Rail Shooting," "Partridge Shooting," "Moose Hunting," "Bison Hunting," etc. Phillips, p. 355. Bruns G-36 (for the 1929 Derrydale edition). Henderson "Early American Sport," p. 93: "Originally issued in 'Gleason's Pictorial,' 1853-1854. Siegel 29: "The 1855 edition was printed on inferior paper and is a rare item in any condition." Not in Westwood & Satchell, Heckscher, or Sage Catalogue. Van Winkle sale 710 (Parke-Bernet, 1940: $100): "The excessively rare first separate edition of one of the most elusive of American sporting books." Uncommon in trade, with five copies noted at auction during the past 35 years (ABPC, 1976-2011). Good copy of a rare 19th-century American sporting book. Lacks the outer wrappers, edges worn, with some chipping at corners, not affecting text or images, one leaf torn at top edge just taking a bit of a plate's background. (#6095). Item #59123

Price: $3,000.00