Life in the Open: Sport with Rod, Gun, Horse and Hound in Southern California
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1906. First Edition, First Printing.
A CLASSIC DOCUMENTING THE WILD SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THAT EXISTED BEFORE MODERN DEVELOPMENT.
An engaging first edition by pioneering outdoorsman Charles Frederick Holder, capturing Southern California before urban expansion transformed its mountains, rivers, coastlines, and game fields. Blending sporting adventure with natural history, Holder recounts hunting, fishing, horseback travel, fox hunting, and wilderness exploration across the region during the closing years of the nineteenth century.
THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THAT DISAPPEARED.
Richly illustrated from photographs, the volume preserves a vanished landscape while documenting the emergence of modern sport fishing. Holder, founder of the famed Tuna Club of Avalon, helped establish ethical big-game angling and popularized the use of light tackle, making this work an important contribution to both California sporting literature and the history of recreational fishing.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: ART NOUVEAU PUBLISHER'S BINDING.
Original deep green cloth decorated in gilt with an elaborate pictorial design by the Decorative Designers studio depicting mounted riders, leaping hounds, deer, fish, and sea lions; matching gilt spine decoration and lettering. xv, 401 pages. Frontispiece portrait and 92 halftone illustrations from photographs throughout the text. Tall octavo, measuring approximately 9.75 inches. First Edition, First Printing.
CONDITION: Very Good. The bindings are tight and square. Text is clean with light, even age-toning. Moderate shelf handling wear with rubbing to the extremities and spine ends. Minor bumping at the corners and light rubbing at the head and foot of the spine. Gilt decoration remains bright and attractive.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: FOUNDATION OF MODERN BIG-GAME FISHING.
Charles Frederick Holder ranks among the most influential figures in American sporting history. Best remembered as the founder of the Tuna Club of Avalon in 1898, he helped establish the principles of fair-chase saltwater angling and championed the revolutionary idea that large game fish could be pursued successfully with comparatively light tackle.
CALIFORNIA'S LOST WILDERNESS.
Beyond fishing, Life in the Open offers an invaluable firsthand portrait of Southern California before widespread development. Holder records a landscape of mountain streams, coastal islands, open ranches, and abundant wildlife, recounting pursuits ranging from trout fishing in the San Bernardino Mountains to fox hunting with the Valley Hunt Club and adventures along Catalina Island and the Channel Islands.
SUBJECTS: Southern California, Charles Frederick Holder, Tuna Club of Avalon, Big Game Fishing, Catalina Island, Channel Islands, Hunting, Trout Fishing, Sporting History, California Wildlife, California, Sporting Literature, Angling, Hunting, Western Americana, Natural History, Outdoor Recreation.
Item #22341
Price: $145.00
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