Category Archives: Some Selected Offerings

History & Fishing Collectibles: History and Artifacts From America's Sporting Past Volume 1, Issue 1

History & Fishing Collectibles: History and Artifacts From America’s Sporting Past Volume 1, Issue 1. 

This issue has articles on Hex Baits, working and miniature decoys, Jim Berry ; decoy carver, archery tackle, collecting Jack Miner, collecting duck calls, carolina shorebird decoys, fishing spears, and much more.

Grancel Fitz – A Trophy Hunter Of Record, And Renown

 

By Michael Patrick McCarty

 

A MAN AMONG HUNTING MEN

 

Grancel Fitz was the first person to harvest all of the North American big game species then recognized by the Boone & Crockett Club, and he completed most of his hunts in the 1930’s and 40’s when travel to the distant game lands could be an exciting adventure all to its self.  He took most of his game through the iron sights of his favorite .30-06 Springfield rifle too!

In his professional life Mr. Fitz was a pioneering giant in the field of advertising and commercial photography, and his work has stood the test of time and has since been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art.

Yet, his world outside of the more modern scene had much more to do with the natural world. His interest in hunting and conservation lead him to the Boone & Crockett Club, where he helped develop the big game trophy measurement and recording system that we know today.

He was a hell of a good story-teller too.

His book “North American Head Hunting” chronicles some of his most memorable hunts, and it remains a classic in the sporting field.

 

The Dustjacket From a First Edition Copy of North American Head Hunting by Grancel Fitz, The First Person To Harvest All Species of North American Big Game. From The Collection of Michael Patrick McCarty
The Dustjacket From a First Edition Copy of North American Head Hunting

 

A Photo of Big Game Hunter Grancel Fitz, With His World Record Grizzly Bear. From His Book North American Head Hunting. From the Collection of Michael Patrick McCarty
His British Columbia Grizzly, Shot in 1953,Tied the 63 Year-old World Record. Official Score of Skull 25 9/16”.

 

The Chapter Headings For North American Head Hunting by Grancel Fitz. With Stories on Grizzlies, Polar Bear, White-tailed Deer, Stone Sheep, Mountain Lion, Bison, Elk, Mountain Goat, Moose, Desert Bighorn, and More
A Hunter’s Wish List
FOR SALE

North American Head Hunting By Grancel Fitz

Published by Oxford University Press, New York, First Edition, 1957, 188 pages. 

With chapters on hunting the Grizzly Bear, White-tailed Deer, Stone Sheep and Desert Bighorn, Mountain Lion, Bison, Elk, Mountain Goat, Moose, and Polar Bear.

“About twenty-five years ago, after I had been lucky enough to bag a couple of exceptionally fine big game trophies in Wyoming and in Alberta, it struck me that there were two things that I would like to do. First of all I wanted to collect one good representative of every legal big game species on the whole North American continent, for this was something that had never been done by any single hunter. Then, after that project was completed, I wanted to write a special kind of book about It”.  – Grancel Fitz

This copy is in Very Good condition, with a Very Good Dustjacket.

Here offered at $13.95 (postpaid U.S.); subject to prior sale.

Please email us at huntbook1@gmail.com to order.

 

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A Vintage Hiram Walker Whiskey Ad Featuring Big Game Hunter Grancel Fitz; Boone & Crockett Club Member and Author of North american Head Hunting
A Vintage Whiskey Ad Featuring Grancel Fitz

 

The ad text reads:

“Grancel Fitz: He has hunted every kind of North American big game and his unmatched personal collection includes record-class heads of 10 different species. His British Columbia grizzly, shot in 1953 near the Klina Klini River, tied the 63 year-old world record. Official score of skull 25 9/16”.

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*We also have a rare signed copy for sale; description below:

 

North American Head Hunting, by Grancel Fitz.

Some light rubbing at edges; corner tips are a bit bumped. Some light dampstaining to the corner of one page. The dustjacket has some edgewear and rubbing. This copy inscribed “To Melville N. Lincoln, a sportsman and scientist to whom I am greatly indebted for information that helped me a lot. With all good wishes. Grancel Fitz Nov. 27, 1957”.

Melville N. Lincoln was the senior curator of habitat groups at the Los Angeles County Museum.

 

A Rare Autograph and Inscription of Grancel Fitz, From a Signed Copy of His Book North American Head Hunting. From the Collection of Michael Patrick McCarty, Publisher of Through A Hunter's Eyes
A Unique Association Copy

 

Signed copies are rarely offered. Very good in very good dust jacket. Signed by author.

$150 postpaid (in U.S.); subject to prior sale.

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Grancel Fitz was a proponent of the “one gun for all big game” philosophy. His choice of an all around hunting caliber was the .30-06 Springfield, which of course is a most versatile and effective cartridge.

It certainly worked for him…

 

The Complete Reloading Manual for the .30-06 Springfield Rifle, Pictured Next To A Vintage Bookend of A Bull Elk. From The Collection of Michael Patrick McCarty
One Book/One Caliber

 

For Sale

You May Also Wish to Purchase:
The Complete Reloading Manual for the.30-06 Springfield. Published by Loadbooks USA, Sylmar, CA, 2004, Spiral Bound.

This copy is in Very Good+ condition.

Here offered at $22.95 (postpaid U.S.). Subject to prior sale.

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*Read More About The History of The Boone & Crockett Records Program Here

 

You might also like In Praise of the .30-378 Weatherby Magnum

 

*Did you know that Bella Twin killed a world record Grizzly Bear in 1953 – and she somehow managed to do that with a .22 rifle?

 

Read about it Here.

 

By Michael Patrick McCarty

 

Let’s Go Bowhunting

A Photo of the Front Cover of Lets Go Bowhunting by Doug Walker. He Was a Member of the Bowhunting Hall of Fame, a Legendary Archer, One of the First Regular Members of the Pope and Young Club, and a Friend of Fred Bear. From the Book Collection of Michael Patrick McCarty
Any Time is a Good Time

 

We have some limited copies of Let’s Go Bowhunting by Doug Walker.

Doug is a member of the Bowhunter’s Hall of Fame and was one of the very first regular members of the Pope & Young Club. He was a friend of Glenn St. Charles, Howard Hill, and Fred Bear. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of archery and bowhunting and big game hunting in general.

Doug Walker passed away in 2011.

Cost is $34.95 (plus $4 shipping in U.S.)

Subject to availability.

*Read More about Saxton Pope and The Pope & Young Club Here

Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty

You Might Also Like An Elk Hunter Looks at Fifty

 

We Can Also Recommend:

 

The Biggest Day in the World!

Michael McCarty, originally from southern New Jersey, poses with his first bow and arrow. A hunter is born.
Is There Any Gift Better Than Your First Bow?

Here is a snapshot of one of the biggest days of my life, circa 1967 (I’m the tall one on the left).

In this case I got exactly what I wanted, at exactly the right time in my rapidly expanding universe. I am forever grateful, for a bowhunter was born!

As you can see, my little brother is quite happy too. My sister never became a hunter, but I give here credit where credit is due.

She had to live with us, and later, deal with whatever game we managed to drag home for dinner.

Long live young boy’s, the still wild piney woods of southern New Jersey, and bows!

My First Bow Was Part of The Scout Fiberglass Archery Set. Does Anyone Know Who May Have Manufactured It?

Michael Patrick McCarty

 

Friends of The Hunted: A Story For Boys by John Howard Jewett. Front Cover Illustration. Decorated Boards.
A Friend I Am

*For Sale:

Friends Of The Hunted: A Story For Boys

by Jewett, John Howard
First edition. Hard cover. Dodge Publishing Company (1909)
Very good. No dust jacket. Signed by previous owner. With gilt decorations on front cover and spine. Bound in red cloth, with some light wear at edges. Internal crack. Quite scarce in any condition, particularly in First Edition

$75 plus $4 shipping (in U.S.)

https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@huntbook/55rc4m-the-biggest-day-in-the-world

Presenting Fun With Trout By Fred Everett

My Idea Of A Good Time

 

Close-up of the spine, with gilt titles, of Fun With Trout: Trout Fishing in Words, Paint & Lines by Fred Everett
A Close-up of the spine, with gilt titles, of Fun With Trout

 

The Front Cover of Fun With Trout: Trout Fishing in Words, Paint & Lines by Fred Everett
The Front Cover, in maroon cloth with gilt titles and pictorial label. There’s Something Wonderful About Those 1950’s Vintage Colors

 

"Prospective Golden Fun". A Color Plate From Fun With Trout: Trout Fishing in Words, Paint & Lines by Fred Everett
“Prospective Golden Fun”. A Color Plate From Fun With Trout

 

A Full Page Illustration From Fun With Trout: Trout Fishing in Words, Paint & Lines by Fred Everett
A Full Page Illustration From Fun With Trout

FOR SALE

Presenting Fun with Trout: Trout Fishing in Words, Paint & Lines. By Fred Everett. Preface by Charles K. Fox. Introduction by Ray Bergman.

Published by The Stackpole Co, Harrisburg, PA, 287 pages, 1952.

Maroon cover with gilt lettering and paste down illustration by Everett of a trout fisherman with rod and netted trout. With pictorial end papers, and internal line drawings. 

An entertaining, often whimsical discussion on flytying, wetflying, dryflying, and more.

Dedicated “to the spirit of the great out-of-doors, its waters and the life therein, an ever enticing lure from the humdrum of everyday life to the body-reviving and soul-filling pastime of fishing; to the spirit of true sportsmanship and all that it means for fair play, courtesy, cooperation and real conservation; to the very spirit of angling itself, this book is sincerely and humbly dedicated”.

This copy is in Near Fine condition, without Dustjacket.

Here offered at $45, postpaid U.S. (subject to prior sale)

Please email us at huntbook1@gmail.com to order.

 

Posted By Michael Patrick McCarty

You Might Also Like To Take A Look At Some Russell Chatham Books Here

To Search Our Online Catalog of More Than 9500 Used, Collectable, and Rare Books  – CLICK HERE

“All men are equal before trout.” – Herbert Hoover

 

A Signed Mixed Media Print of a Blue Wing Olive Parachute Nymph Trout Fly by Charlie Manus of Marble, Colorado
Christmas is Right Around The Corner

For the Fly Fisherman in the house:

A 4″ x 6″ Signed Print of A Blue Wing Olive Nymph.  Matt Size 8″ x 10″. From an original mixed media painting by Charlie Manus of Marble, Colorado.

For Sale at $28.95 (postpaid U.S.).  Matt Size 8″ x 10″. Please Email us at huntbook1@gmail.com to order.

Other fly patterns available.

https://steemit.com/fishing/@huntbook/fun-with-trout-is-my-kind-of-fun

Stormy – The Dog That Led Us Into The Wind

Stormy, by Jim Kjelgaard, is one of his most popular, and more collectable book titles. It is the story of an outcast labrador retriever, and his young owner. With lots of duck hunting and outdoor adventure.
Bring On The Storm!

A BOOK FOR ALL TIME

 

I have always been a reader, blessedly so, and born for it I suppose. I took to books like black ink yearns for the creative freedom of an empty white page. My face became well-known in any library I could enter, until I had read almost everything on animals and fishing and all things outdoors from their limited selections.

And then an angel of a librarian handed me a copy of “Stormy”, a story about an outlaw Labrador Retriever and his owner, written by this fellow with the strange name. It was unlike anything I had ever read and I was hooked deep in my insides like a catfish on a cane pole.

It was big, eye-opening reading for a nine-year old.  The world suddenly opened to wild possibilities, and the book is one of the reasons that I went on to earn a Wildlife Biology Degree in College. Jim Kjelgaard helped me to become a hunter too, and not just any kind of hunter, but a waterfowl hunter at that.

I have since come to love biting wind and snow squalls and white-capped waves in an icy marsh. I owe it all to an outlaw dog named Stormy, and a writer that knew him better than the dog himself.

For Sale:

Stormy. By Jim Kjelgaard. Published by Holiday House/Scott, Foresman, 1959. Hardcover, without Dustjacket as issued. In Very Good condition. This is not an X-library copy, as is more commonly offered.  Uncommon in this Edition.

“Allan Marley and his father have lived together  in the untamed wilderness of the Beaver Flowage all  their lives. But when Mr. Marley is jailed because  of a bitter feud, Allan suddenly finds himself on  his own. Then he meets Stormy, an outlaw dog who  has been accused of turning on his owner. Allan  knows that the big black retriever has been  mistreated, and he works hard to win the noble dog’s trust  and affection. As allies, Allan and Stormy overcome  every danger they encounter in the unpredictable  wilderness…but can their bond protect Allan from  the viciousness of his father’s human enemies? ”

Offered for $65 postpaid in U.S. Please contact us to purchase (Subject to prior sale).

For More on Jim Kjelgaard, click the link HERE

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Backwoods Freedom! – and Dogs Too.

Michael Patrick McCarty

*See our catalog HERE for a fine selection of Jim Kjelgaard First Editions and Autographed Works. Enter Kjelgaard in the author field.
A Close-up of the Artwork on the Endpapers of the Scott Foresman and Holiday House Edition of the Book Stormy By Jim Kjelgaard, with a Flock of Ducks fFying Fast on the Wind.
Sometimes A Duck Hunter Can Only Set The Gun Down and Watch. Photo by Michael Patrick McCarty

Out of the Wind

https://steemit.com/hunting/@huntbook/stormy-the-dog-that-lead-us-into-the-wind

Russell Chatham Signed Books – Angler’s, Dark & Silent

From wikipedia:

“Russell Chatham (born October 27, 1939) is a contemporary American landscape artist who spent most of his career living in Livingston, Montana. The artist is the grandson of landscape painter Gottardo Piazzoni, though he is essentially a self-taught artist. His work has been exhibited in over 400 one man shows and in museums and galleries over the last five decades. Notable art critic Robert Hughes is numbered one of Chatham’s collectors and there are others as diverse as Paul Allen and actor Jack Nicholson. Chatham’s work eschews the narrative tendency of much western art and presents landscapes that stand in intimate relationship towards the human figure even in the absence of it. In the early 1980s Chatham began making lithographs and now stands as one of the world’s foremost practitioners of that craft.

In addition to Lithography, Chatham also produces original oil paintings. His oil paintings currently sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and there is a multi-year waiting list for commissions, but according to his dealers, he prefers printing lithographs as the more challenging art form. (Longtime Livingston residents can recall a time when early in his career Chatham traded his canvases for essential services in a barter arrangement.) Despite being a print, Chatham’s lithographs have little to do with modern process lithography, which always starts from a photograph and typically only uses 4 colors. His art lithographs may have 30 or 40 different layers of color, all of which have to be hand drawn on to the printing plate, and the colors selected for the final effect. To see some of the early proofs of one of his prints is to see a study in vivid and unusual colors from which it is almost impossible to conceive of the final subtle shadings and quiet colors.

In addition to his work as a painter, Chatham has also published a series of short stories “Dark Waters” in which he details the exploits of his hunting friends, like the author Jim Harrison. ..

Many of Chatham’s painted works have adorned the covers of Harrison’s works.” – Wikipedia

Below are some selected offerings from Michael Patrick McCarty, Bookseller:

 

The Angler's Coast by Russell Chatham. Signed by Russell Chatham

The Angler’s Coast by Russell Chatham.  Hard cover. Clark City Press, Livingston, Montana. First Clark City Press Printing ,1990, 163 pages. Very good in very good dust jacket. A light bump to upper corners, and a slight dent to lower cover edge. Else in Very Good+ condition with like dustjacket, which has some light edgewear. Signed “Russell Chatham 1991” on half title page. Autographed copies of this title rarely offered.

Russell Chatham Autograph Signature. The Angler's Coast.

$195 plus $4 shipping (in U.S.).

 

“Everything in nature is essentially inscrutable,” claims Russell Chatham in The Angler’s Coast, but his written observations of the world around him are as evocative as his painted landscapes. First published in 1976, this new edition has been expanded to include photographs of the great fishermen and rivers of the West Coast.” -Publisher’s Synopsis

Silent Seasons: Twenty-One Fishing Stories by Thomas McGuane, William Hjortsberg, ,Jack Curtis, Harmon Henkin, Charles Waterman, Jim Harrison & Russell Chatham. Signed by Russell Chatham

Silent Seasons: Twenty-One Fishing Stories by Thomas McGuane, William Hjortsberg, Jack Curtis, Harmon Henkin, Charles Waterman, Jim Harrison & Russell Chatham. Clark City Press, Livingston, Montana. Stated First Printing, 1988, 205 pages. Softcover, in Fine Condition with Fine Dustjacket. Signed “Russell Chatham, 1990” on half-title page; scarce thus.

$95 plus $4 shipping (in U.S.).

 

“This is probably the best assembly of fine writers who happen to be fisherman that you’ll find; you don’t even have to be a fisherman to enjoy it. You won’t learn much about how to fish but I promise that you’ll discover many of the reasons that sensient, articulate and thoughtful people want fishing to be part of the fabric of their lives.” – Gene Hill

 

Dark Waters: Essays, Stories and Articles by Russell Chatham. Signed by Russell Chatham

Dark Waters: Essays, Stories and Articles by Russell Chatham. Clark City Press, Livingston, Montana. Stated First Printing, 1988, 205 pages. Softcover, in Fine Condition with Fine Dustjacket. Signed “Russell Chatham, 1990” on half-title page; scarce thus.

$95 plus $4 shipping (in U.S.). [SOLD]

 

“In Dark Waters you will find no bilge, no pap, little that you’d expect, feasts you’ll never forget, sights and smells that only an artist’s antennae could catch…this book is bold, outrageous, wise, independent, wrong-headed, delicious, pugnacious, and lots of fun.” – Nick Lyons

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Offered by Michael Patrick McCarty

Please email us at huntbook1@gmail.com

Availability Subject to Prior Sale

Books Spoken Here – and Writing Too!

See our Catalog of 10,000 Used, Collectable, and Rare Books HERE

You can search by author, title, or keyword, and more. (Scan the complete list HERE).
Still can’t find it? Please let us know. We may have it, in the backroom. 

The Analysis of The Hunting Field – A Rare Foxhunting Book

Robert Smith Surtees (1805-1864) was an English editor, novelist and sporting writer. Henry Thomas Alken. worked in both oil and watercolor and was a skilled etcher.
In The Analysis of the Hunting Field, Surtees offers wry, fatherly advice in this satiric romp through the key archetypes of the fox hunt. As Lord Denham says in his introduction, “this should be required reading for anyone connected with hunting.

 

Photo of front cover and spine of The Analysis of The Hunting Field By Robert Smith Surtees. Illustrated by Henry Thomas Alken. First Edition, 2nd Issue, 1846.
Sporting Lore Galore, With Gilt Decorations and Hand Colored Plates

 The Analysis of The Hunting Field; Being A Series of Sketches of the Principle Characters That Compose One. The Whole Forming a Slight Souvenir of The Season, 1845-1846

By Robert Smith Surtees. Illustrated by Henry Thomas Alken. 

Published by Rudolf Ackermann; Cook and Co., Printer and Engravers, London (1846).

First Edition, Second Issue.

In Good condition. No dust jacket as issued. Some wear and short tears to cloth at end of spines, and a light and short split to cloth at backstrap. Top edge darkened, with some browning to pages and some occasional light foxing. With titles and preface dated 1846.

There are 6 hand colored plates (including frontispiece), and a hand colored title page. Plates 2, 3, and 4 are dated Nov. 19th. In original maroon cloth, with gilt front and spine decorations.The First Printing is quite scarce in any condition.

Her Offered at $350 postpaid in U.S. (Subject to Prior Sale)

 

The Analysis of The Hunting Field - A Rare Foxhunting Book by Surtees and Alken
The Plates:1. Frontispiece – The Meet.2. Engraved title.3. Getting Away.4. Full Cry.5. The Check.6. The Leap.7.

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Robert Smith Surtees (1805-1864) was an English editor, novelist and sporting writer. Thackeray envied him his powers of observation, while William Morris considered him ‘a master of life’ and ranked him with Dickens. In The Analysis of the Hunting Field, Surtees offers wry, fatherly advice in this satiric romp through the key archetypes of the fox hunt. As Lord Denham says in his introduction, “this should be required reading for anyone connected with hunting. From the right sort of Master to the wrong sort, from the hunting nobleman to the whip and from the blacksmith to the braggart with horses to sell we find the people ‘pon the ‘orses are much the same as today.”

Alken worked in both oil and watercolor and was a skilled etcher. His earliest productions were published anonymously under the signature of “Ben Tallyho”, but in 1816 he issued The Beauties & Defects in the Figure of the Horse comparatively delineated under his own name. From this date until about 1831, he produced many sets of etchings of sporting subjects mostly coloured and sometimes humorous in character, the principal of which were: Humorous Specimens of Riding 1821, Symptoms of being amazed 1822, Symptoms of being amused 1822, Flowers from Nature 1823, A Touch at the Fine Arts 1824, and Ideas 1830. Besides these he published a series of books: Illustrations for Landscape Scenery and Scraps from the Sketch Book of Henry Alken in 1823, New Sketch Book in 1824, Sporting Scrap Book and Shakespeare’s Seven Ages in 1827, Sporting Sketches and in 1831 Illustrations to Popular Songs and Illustrations of Don Quixote, the latter engraved by John Christian Zeitter.

Alken provided the plates picturing hunting, coaching, racing and steeplechasing for The National Sports of Great Britain (London, 1821). Alken, known as an avid sportsman,is best remembered for his hunting prints, many of which he engraved himself until the late 1830s. (Charles Lane British Racing Prints pp. 75–76). He created prints for the leading sporting printsellers such as S. and J. Fuller, Thomas McLean, and Rudolph Ackermann, and often collaborated with his friend the sporting journalist Charles James Apperley (1779–1843), also known as Nimrod.[9] Nimrod’s Life of a Sportsman, with 32 etchings by Alken, was published by Ackermann in 1842. In many of his etchings, Alken explored the comic side of riding and satirized the foibles of aristocrats, much in the tradition of other early 19th century caricaturists such as Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray. One of his best known paintings, “The Belvoir Hunt: Jumping Into And Out Of A Lane”, hangs in the Tate Britain and shows one of the oldest of the great foxhound packs in Leicestershire.  A collection of his illustrations can be seen in the print department of the British Museum. – From wikipedia

 

The Analysis of The Hunting Field by Surtees and Alken. With 43 wood engraved text illustrations by Cook and Company.
With 43 wood engraved text illustrations by Cook and Company.

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See a list of our other hunting books here.

You Might Also Like To View Some titles By Russel Chatham