The Hunter's Feast; Or, Conversations Around the Camp Fire.

New York: G. W. Dillingham Co., Publishers., 1897 Reprint, (original book published 1854,) hard cover, 16mo, in decorated cloth-covered boards, featuring a blocked design in red and green of a campsite in a forest alongside a side profile of a Native American chief below the text "Capt. Mayne Reid's Works" on front board, and a design of three weapons crossed together below the red and green titles on the spine, 364pp. COLLATION: [2], [i-v], vi, 1*, 16-364pp. An edition-specific frontispiece ad listing the other books written by the author.** CONDITION: Very Good Plus; Outside: Mild shelfwear to bottom edge of boards, slight crimping to top and bottom of spine, moderately browned text block edges, the cover and spine designs remaining bright. Inside: a few dog-eared pages. Mild age-toning to pages, mildly inconsistent inking of text, solid hinges and bright pages with few blemishes. Includes a preface by the author, a small bookstore label and former owner's ink stamp to ffep., Belongs to a series of books all from the same author and publisher that all have the same front board design and text as well as the same spine design, with only the title on the spine differentiating the books from the series from the outside. **A dime novel meant for the education of aspiring hunters (young people), the book is an educational story that follows the author's proclaimed past experience hunting in the American West with a party of fellows, stopping occasionally to teach the reader about the peculiarities of a certain animal or hunting technique. While Native Americans are depicted as enemies, as is consistent with other works from the same period, this book is special in that not only was an indigenous person a companion to the author during a portion of the book, but that a free black man was part of the original hunting party, which is notable in a book published before the Civil War. **The Author, Thomas Mayne Reid (1818 - 1883) was a novelist, and veteran of the Mexican-American War, and self-proclaimed explorer who wrote books that ranged from adventurous tales such as this, to books about the horror of slavery, and books about the lives of Native Americans. His books took place in a variety of locations, from the American West to the Himalayas, Jamaica, and beyond. He was a well paid dime-novel author for his time, even though he reportedly always had money troubles. An author whose books were both progressive for his time and popular with children inspired many people, including future president Theodore Roosevelt, according to his autobiography. Ref: E. Pearson, "Dime Novels; Or, Following An Old Trail in Popular Literature,"( Port Washington: Kennikat Press, 1968). (CJ). Reprint. Hard Cover. Very Good Plus.