Description
The Gentleman’s Recreations In Three Parts was comprised of First Part: Introduction to the Liberal Arts, Second Part: Of Horsemanship, Hawking, Hunting, Fowling, Fishing, etc. and Third Part:Laws of the Forest and Game. The first part has 31 plates illustrating liberal arts subjects, 19 of which were oval plates with tables in the center and decorative borders depicting people engaged in activities such as Rhetoric, Logic, Astronomy, Astrology, Cosmography, Navigation and Geography. The second part includes 50 copperplate engravings on horses and different types of hunting activities, including shooting,fishing and falconry.
Richard Blome was among the most active publishers of cartographic and illustrated books in late 17th-century London .He was the first publisher in England for 40 years to prepare a new folio world atlas, the first in over 60 years to publish a new set of folio county maps, the first to seriously plan an illustrated description of London, and the first to plan a series of volumes related to the various world continents. In the 1680s, Blome issued some illustrated books, including The Gentleman’s Recreation, The History of The Old Testament and a three-volume translation of the works of French philosopher Rene Descartes.
Condition: Generally very good, with the usual light toning, soiling, soft creases.
References:
Baynton-Williams, Ashley. “Richard Blome.” Mapforum.com. Issue 9. http://www.mapforum.com/09/9blome.htm (3 June 2002).
“Bowater Vernon with Hanbury Hall and Its Formal Garden.” National Trust UK. http://www.ntprints.com/image.php?id=420688 (22 June 2010).
Harris, Andrew. “The Vernons of Hanbury Hall.” Dodderhill Parish Survey Project. 2007. http://www.dodderhillhistory.org.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=136 (22 June 2010).
Harting, James Edmund. Bibliotheca Accipitraria. A Catalogue of Books Ancient & Modern Relating to Falconry. 1891. Reprint ed. Mansfield Center, CT: Martino Publishing, 2000. pp. 30-31.
Schwerdt, Charles Francis George Richard. Hunting, Hawking, Shooting Illustrated in A Catalogue of Books, Manuscripts, Prints, and Drawings Collected by C.G.F.R. Schwerdt. Vol 1. 1928-1937. Reprint ed. Mansfield Center, CT: Martino Publishing, 1996. p. 72.
