THE CHASE. REPRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION OF 1735, WITH A MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. ILLUSTRATIONS BY HUGH THOMSON. By William Somervile.

(1735) 1896 new edition. Square 8vo (172 x 222mm). Ppxxvi,88. B/w illustrations by Hugh Thomson, biographical essay by R. Farquharson Sharp. Blue cloth, illustrated and titled in gilt.

This is the story of a hunt, presented as an extended poem, by a noted Warwickshire huntsman of the early eighteenth century". William Somervile ...was born at Edstone, in the parish of Wootton Warren, Warwickshire, in 1677. ...The poet's great grandfather is reported to have been intimate with Shakespeare after the latter's retirement from the stage, and possessed a portrait of him - supposed to be by the hand of Nicholas Hilliard - which was preserved in the Somervile family". "Of all books on hunting, this alone seems to describe 'sport' in its true meaning, and is a great deal more correct in details than any modern books I ever read".