Ideas, Accidental and Incidental to Hunting, and Other Sports; Caught in Leicestershire, &c.

London: Thomas M'Lean, Plates dated 1826 to 1830. Watermarks indicating 1829. First edition. Half Morocco. . Very Good. Extra-illustrated with three pencil drawings and one watercolor by Alken. Folio, 36 by 26 cm. 42 hand-colored soft ground etchings within the collection proper, which plays on the word "Idea" to tease out all sorts of humorous unpleasantness and mishaps concomitant with foxhunting. The use of a word or phrase to lend a loose cohesion to an anthology of caricature illustrations was a convention Alken relied on time and again. The larger format of these illustrations makes this anthology especially appealing, plus the color of the hand-coloring is quite rich and vibrant here. Also, this particular collection is surprisingly uncommon. Six institutional copies noted on OCLC First Search (Yale, Art Institute, Transylvania, Clark, London, Huntington), none of course with the original artwork by Alken.