A TEAR FOR SOMALIA. [Presentation copy SIGNED BY DOUGLAS COLLINS to Professional Hunter Bill Ryan].

London: Jarrolds, (1960)., (1960).. Good. INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR DOUGLAS COLLINS TO PROFESSIONAL HUNTER BILL RYAN - Octavo, 8-1/4 inches high by 5-1/4 inches wide. Hardcover, bound in light bluish-gray cloth titled in black on the spine, laid into a pictorial dust wrapper. The covers are bumped. The edges of the soiled dust jacket are chipped with small pieces out from the head and tail of the jacket's spine. 192 pages illustrated with a frontispiece, a map and 17 mostly full-page vivid drawings of native Somalis. Very good in a good dust wrapper.

First edition.

With a wonderful inscription to professional hunter Bill Ryan: "For Bill Ryan, one of the more gentlemanly white hunters of the present day (he'll know what I'm talking about here) & he'll damn well know what I'm talking about in this Far-gone book - Le sh[?] / Douglas Collins / Christmas, [?], 1960."

In a tribute to Bill Ryan (c.1908-1985) in Gamecoin Magazine, Chuck Ennis writes of him: "Bill was one of Kenya's best liked and well-known professional hunters". Bill Ryan arrived in Kenya from South Africa when he was 11 years old. He quickly became a crack shot and an expert horseman. He spoke several African languages fluently. After serving in World war II he went into the saw milling business. In 1954 he took up professional hunting full time. He was eagerly sought after and escorted many celebrities throughout East Africa - including Ernest Hemingway, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper Bing Crosby and others. During the last 14 years of his life he resided in Nairobi and Malindi with his dear friend "Bimbetta", the widow of Ambassador Lincoln MacVeagh, Virginia.