THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME: SKETCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY AND RURAL LIFE. By Richard Jefferies. With illustrations by Charles Whymper.

(1878) 1985 reprint of 1973 Tideline edition. 8vo (142 x 206mm). Pp220. B/w engravings by Charles Whymper. Brown cloth, spine titled in gilt.

A nice reprint of this popular first-hand account of gamekeeping and poaching in nineteenth century England. Facsimile reprint of the 1880 illustrated edition, the first edition appearing in 1878 when the author was thirty. A classic of country life in the nineteenth century. Delightful tales of gamekeeping, poaching, rabbiting, fishing and natural history. Chapters include: The man himself - his house, and tools; His family and caste; In the fields; His dominions - the woods, meadows and water; Some of his subjects - dogs, rabbits, 'mice and such small deer'; His enemies - birds and beasts of prey, trespassers; Professional poachers - the art of wiring game; Guerilla warfare - gun accidents, black sheep.