AFFECTIONATELY H: TWENTY YEARS OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN A BOOKSELLER AND A COLLECTOR. A TRIBUTE TO HELEN BURT HENNESSEY.

1999 1st edition. Large 8vo (185 x 263mm). Ppviii,384. Blue cloth, spine titled in gilt.

"For twenty years between 1978 and 1998, a rare book collector exchanged letters with an engaging, eccentric antiquarian bookseller, and a number of different stories can be found in this correspondence. A complex and intimate relationship gradually unfolds between a tough and spirited, yet frail Vermont lady, and an enthusiastic, aggressive, continually learning collector...A strong infusion of information about the process of collecting rare books binds the assorted stories together." "John Daniels, who became one of the leading sporting book collectors of the 20th century, has himself privately published this delightful and informative work; running to nearly 400 pages, it's worth every penny. When in advanced years he donated his whole collection to the National Sporting Library in New England." (David Grayling). Daniels was a wealthy collector and Hennessey a top-end antiquarian bookseller, trading from her home in Saratoga Springs, New York. Daniels' collection majored in horses and hunting (they shared an interest in polo), but included many fine Waltons and other sporting and fishing books. He put on a major exhibition based on his collection - "Five hundredyears of sporting books" - at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1992.