DEBRETT'S BOOK OF GAME CARDS. By Lord Ralph Percy. Foreword by Lt. General Sir George Collingwood K.B.E. C.B. D.S.O.

1986 1st edition. 4to (201 x 256mm). Pp96. B/w photographs and illustrations. Red boards, spine titled in gilt.

"After a day's shooting, the owner gives his guests a game card on which is written the details of the bag and the names of the guns, so that the guests can accurately transcribe the day's sport into their gamebooks at home. This ritual has changed little since the Edwardian age of huge bags, extravagant weekend parties, and bitter rivalry between the best shots. ...This book takes a light-hearted look at many of the game cards from the great shoots of the Edwardian age right up to the modern day. There are game cards as far apart as Cornwall, Wales, the Hebrides, France and even India." Chapters include: The royal cards; Big bags and big shots; Mixed bags; Old game cards; Modern game cards; Coats of arms and monograms; Game books and miscellaneous discoveries in searching through old game records.