HERBERT, HENRY WILLIAM

Complete Manual for Young Sportsmen by Frank Forrester, New York, 1856, with inscription dated 1904, 480 pages, bearing the bookplate for W.S. Curtis (Bill Curtis) (some light staining, wear to cover)

The pages detail shooting and fishing in America in the 1840’s and 1850’s, with chapters on the gun, how to choose and use it, the various breeds of dogs, all types of shooting and hunting as well as chapters on sea and river fishing.

The author Frank Forrester was the pseudo name for Henry William Herbert who left England at age 24 and sailed to New York City, arriving in the spring of 1831. He was from a prominent, affluent and accomplished English family. His grandfather was an Earl, his father a member of Parliament, later an esteemed clergyman, and a recognized authority in the fields of linguistics, literary composition and botany. In the spring of 1858, at age 51, Frank Forester, who could rightfully be described as the first sporting writer in America, sent a written invitation to his friends to come to his suite at the Stevens House, a fashionable New York City hotel. The invitation asked them to join him for dinner, and then to watch him shoot himself. Only one person showed up for the unusual event. After imbibing much, Forester left the dining table, went into another room, pointed a pistol at his heart, and shot himself. He staggered out, said to his guest “I told you I would do it”.