[Manuscript] The Sporting Adventures of Mr. Popple [together with] a first edition copy of the book

London: Later published by John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1896. Half Morocco, Cloth Boards. Near Fine. Oblong, 26 by 40 cm. (This is slightly larger than the later book.) Title, 20 pp. 10 pages are devoted to the original full-page watercolors, and the title is also largely watercolored. The other pages have pen-and-ink vignettes aplenty as well as the original beautifully hand-written text, which was reproduced in the later printing. In printed form, the illustrations are fun, evocative and full of verve, yet the original artwork is truly a revelation. The colors are richer, as one might expect, but the action, and the illustrations team with movement, comes off so much more immediate and intense in this quintessential foxhunting tale of a nouveau riche newbie and all the mishaps that occur to him as he navigates the "Sport of Kings". Pencilled on the backs and/or the margins are the name Edmund Evans, the printer, and shorthand instructions for the printing. Bookplate on FEP of the Duke of Gloucester. The first edition copy comes with a paper slip insert stating that the original drawings were available for purchase from Edmund Evans, and so one can infer that this printed copy and the manuscript have been united for most of the life of the book. A few scuffs of the leather and light wear beside.