Complete 2 Volume Set - Original Gilt Decorated Embossed Cloth Bindings - All 16 Plates Present As Called For.
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John Colquhoun's celebrated The Moor and the Loch is one of the classic nineteenth-century works devoted to the field sports, wildlife and sporting traditions of the Scottish Highlands. First published in 1840, the work grew substantially through successive editions as Colquhoun revised and expanded his observations drawn from a lifetime spent among the moors, mountains and lochs of Scotland. This desirable 1878 Fourth Edition, Enlarged, was issued by William Blackwood and Sons in two substantial volumes and represents a considerably developed form of Colquhoun's influential sporting work.
Across the two volumes Colquhoun provides detailed practical instruction and personal observations covering an exceptionally broad range of Highland pursuits. Subjects include deer-stalking, grouse and black-game shooting, wildfowl and other game, sporting dogs, salmon and trout fishing, loch fishing and Highland fieldcraft, together with extensive discussion of the habits and habitats of Scottish wildlife. Colquhoun writes as an experienced sportsman and natural observer, combining practical advice with anecdotes and descriptions of Highland landscapes and sporting life, making the work as much a record of nineteenth-century Scottish country life and natural history as a sporting manual.
The set is particularly attractive for its extensive period illustration, containing all 16 plates present as called for across the two volumes. These include sporting and natural-history subjects associated with the text, among them grouse and black-game and the evocative portrait of a Highland deer-stalker with his long-barrelled flintlock rifle. The illustrations complement Colquhoun's first-hand descriptions and contribute considerably to the appeal of this enlarged edition for collectors of Scottish, sporting, hunting, fishing and natural-history literature.
Especially desirable is the survival of the complete two-volume set in its original publisher's cloth bindings. The dark green cloth boards feature attractive embossed botanical decoration surrounding gilt sporting game vignettes, with gilt titles and volume numbers to the spines — a handsome example of Victorian sporting-book design. Complete sets retaining their matching original decorated bindings and full complement of plates have considerable display appeal, and this 1878 edition provides an impressive combination of classic Highland sporting literature, period illustration and original Victorian decorative binding.
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General wear, bumping and fading etc to covers with some loss to outer spines as shown. Binding is in good shape with no loose pages. All plates present as called for. Small prior owner name on half title page. Pages with some age toning and light foxing present. A nice 2 volume set in good condition overall. Please study photos to further understand condition.
