The Master of Game...The Oldest English Book on Hunting. With a Foreword by Theodore Roosevelt

London: Published for the editors by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co, 1904. First edition. Very Good +. Folio measuring 380 x 280mm. VG+ to Near Fine condition. One of 600 copies signed by the editor, with 52 facsimile photogravure plates and monotint reproductions. Full reversed calf inlaid on the front board with the seal of Edward, Second Duke of York. Brown endpapers. Scattered foxing throughout, largely concentrated in preliminaries. In all, a tight and pleasing copy housed in a custom case.

A partial translation of the oldest and most famous hunting book in the English language, Gaston Phoebus. "Based primarily on Gaston de Foix's Livre de Chasse, originally composed in 1387, The Master of Game was written by Edward of Norwich in his 'leisure' between 1406 and 1413, mostly while being held prisoner for having treacherous designs against his cousin, Henry IV. While much of the book is almost an exact translation of de Foix, Edward added five chapters of his own to form the major source of our knowledge of the medieval hunt" (UPenn). The present large-paper edition is beautifully illustrated, capturing the substance of its subject. It additionally features a foreword by famed huntsman and U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, who provides cultural context for the hunt then and in his own time. Very Good +.