Campbell, Major Walter

The Old Forest Ranger; Or, Wild Sports of India On the Neilgherry Hills, in the Jungles, and on the Plains

Hardcover, London: George Routledge & Sons, 1844. Good+. New Edition. Octavo, pp. Xiv, 359. Frontispiece portrait of a tiger hunt, 4 additional full page illustrations, 20 illustrations in the text, glossary, notes, 8 pages of publisher's ads. Bound in publisher's dark blue cloth with gold decorations and titles on cover and spine and gilded page edges. Decorations a bit faded. Front endpapers and half title pages age spotted. Bookplate of previous owner on front pastedown. Binding cracked at rear gutter, binding is delicate, but still sound and all pages and plates are present. Spine bumped at both ends, corners rubbed. Walter Campbell was an officer in the British East India Company's army who was known as "Jungle Wallah" in his regiment for spending as much time as he could hunting in the jungle. In this book the author assumes the guise of an "old forest ranger" and uses some fictional characters, but the hunts described are his own personal experiences of hunting in India. He describes hunts after bison, bear, deer, boar, man-eating tiger, and regular tiger. He also discusses the people he met and their culture. There are two handwritten letters laid into the book. According to the letters, this book was given to Lt. Col. R. D. T. Alexander by Dr. Charles Robertson in 1935. In the letters, written by Robertson, Dr. Robertson mentions that both were members of the Indian Rifle Team that won the Kolapore Cup at Bisley on July 19, 1935. Alexander was the Captain of the team. The Kolapore Cup held at Bisley was an annual team rifle shooting contest that drew marksmen from around the British Empire. The format was teams of 8 shooters competing in 3 rounds at 300, 500, and 600 yards, all shots from all team members counted. The number of competing teams varied by year, but was around 6 with teams of marksmen from Great Britian, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, India, and South Africa competing. The Kolapore Cup was one of several shooting events held at Bisley. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall. [Item #77541]

Price: $100.00