GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL: THEIR FRIENDS AND THEIR FOES. By A.E. Knox.

1850 1st edition. Small 8vo (125 x 196mm). Pp264 + 3pp + ad + 8pp publisher's catalogues. Four b/w plates. Original green cloth, spine titled in gilt, gilt falcon and duck motif to upper board.

"The following papers are chiefly derived from the observations and experiences of the Author, in reference to those birds which are usually the objects of pursuit with the British sportsman; and to certain other animals which, either justly or erroneously, are supposed to be injurious to their welfare and increase. The Ornithologist, therefore, who opens this little book in the expectation of finding a scientific treatise on those families of the rasorial, grallatorial, and natatorial orders which might be supposed to be included in its rather comprehensive title, will be doomed to disappointment; while those indulgent readers who could find amusement, or relaxation from graver pursuits, in the author's 'Ornithological Rambles' may perhaps give a favourable reception to these pages, in which he has endeavoured to blend entertainment with instruction, and thus add new votaries to a loving observation of Nature". The publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear of the book is dated 1850, as is the title-page.