THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME (and) THE AMATEUR POACHER. By Richard Jefferies.

(1978) later reprint. 8vo paperback (132 x 197mm). Ppxiv,352. New introduction by Richard Fitter.

A combined edition of two of Richard Jefferies most popular books. Readable and fascinating accounts describing nineteenth century rural life in the greatest detail, which also examine the social changes in the countryside of Queen Victoria's time. Considered controversial in his day, Jefferies' work remains indispensable reading. Chapters include: Gamekeeper at Home: The man himself - his house and tools; His family and caste; In the fields; His dominions - the woods, meadows, and water; Some of his subjects - dogs, rabbits, 'mice, and such small deer'; His enemies - birds and beasts of prey, trespassers; Professional poachers - the art of wiring game; The field detective - fish poaching; Guerilla warfare - gun accidents, black sheep. The Amateur Poacher: The first gun; The old punt, a curious 'turnpike'; Tree-shooting, a fishing expedition; Egg-time, a 'gip' trap; Woodland twilight - traitors on the gibbet; Lurcher land - 'The Park'; Oby, and his system, the moucher's calendar; Churchyard pheasants, before the bench; Luke, the rabbit contractor, the Brook Path; Farmer Willum's place, snipe shooting; Ferreting, a rabbit-hunter; A winter night, old tricks, pheasant stalking, matchlock versus breech-loader, conclusion.