"A BIOGRAPHY OF A REAL MAN THAT READS LIKE A WORK OF FICTION"

APPERLEY, Charles James. Memoirs of the Life of the Late John Mytton, Esq., of Halston, Shropshire, Formerly M.P. for Shrewsbury, High Sheriff for the Counties of Salop and Merioneth, and Major in the North Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry; With Notices of His Hunting, Shooting, Driving, Racing, Eccentric and Extravagant Exploits. London: Rudolph Ackermann, 1851. Octavo, modern full green morocco gilt, raised bands, all edges gilt; original cloth bound in at rear. $1350.

Third edition, with 18 beautifully hand-colored aquatint plates by T.J. Rawlins and H. Alken, handsomely bound by Riviere & Son.

Apperley "forwent his aspirations towards 'moral tone' in this lively account of a rugged, hard-living, devil-may-care country squire, greatly to the improvement of his narrative" (Ray 48). "A most valuable and important book for the sporting life of the period, aptly description by Newton as 'a biography of a real man that reads like a work of fiction" (Tooley 66). "As an illustrator of sport, coaching, and racing, whether in Memoirs of John Mytton or the National Sports, [Alken] possesses an importance" (Prideaux, 309). This third edition contains 6 more plates than the first edition, published in 1835. Third issue, with engraved and letterpress title pages both dated 1851. Tooley 68.

Scattered light foxing to plates and text. A near-fine copy.