Title: 1,000 MILES IN A MACHILLA; Travel and Sport in...
Publisher: Walter Scott Publishing co.
Publication Date: 1911
Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Good
FIRST EDITION. x, [2], 311, [1] pages, 50 unnumbered leaves of plates (some colour) : illustrations, folding coloured map, portraits (some sporadic foxing). Engraved armorial bookplate (name crossed through) on front paste-down endpaper.Top edges gilt (several leaves and plates edging very slightly proud of the rest of the text block). 15 x 23 cm. Original crimson cloth. Spine with gilt lettering and vignette of hunter holding up animal's corpse by the horns (faded, worn at the extremities, with a small stain near the foot and a small closed tear on the letter "L" of "miles". The front cover with gilt lettering and gilt vignette embossed image of Olivia Colville being transported by four inhabitants in her machilla (corners slightly worn, small marks and stains, some small spots of wear; a slight lean in the binding). Overall it is a book that presents well. Olivia Colville (born Spencer-Churchill) 1859-1943 was a relation of Winston Churchill, descended from the Dukes of Marlborough and married to Brig.-Gen. Arthur Edward William Colville (1857-1942), retired officer (Army) and Captain Rifle Brigade. Provenance:- Michael Edwin Marcus 5th Baron Sandys, 1855-1948, an accomplished amateur boxer, became the fifth baron in 1863. He allowed his stables at Ombersley Court to be used by the horses of the Worcestershire Yeomanry during the First World War, but when his wife died in 1929, he had her room locked up and its contents remained undisturbed for about 20 years. During the Second World War, it is believed Ombersley Court was marked down by the Nazis as their general headquarters for a thrust towards Birmingham in the, thankfully never attempted, Operation Sea Lion. The fifth baron died in 1948, at the age of 92 and was succeeded by his cousin, Lt Col Arthur Fitzgerald Sandys Hill of Himbleton Manor, near Droitwich, who was then 72. The family seat is Ombersley Court in Ombersley near Droitwich in Worcestershire. "While the publisher's cloth binding depicting a hunter and antelope in gilt on the spine promises sporting adventures, the reader will invariably be doomed to disappointment.The bulk of the text details the conditions of travel, the landscape, and natives of the region." p39 Czech, African Hunting 1785-1950. Loosely inserted original 1911 letter from W.H. Smith Ombersley Street, Droitwich branch, to accompany this book to Michael, its noble recipient, "on approval". WorldCat only locates UK copies in B.L.,Oxford, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The only complete copy currently found for sale on the internet. Seller Inventory # 5078