George Cole Bainbridge / Gottlieb Boccius - The Fly Fisher’s Guide - 1816-1841

(Binding: Sport an pastimes: Fishing; Farming; Natural History; Illustrated; Gastronomy; First editions) GEORGE COLE BAINBRIDGE (1788-1839 or 1840), GOTTLIEB BOCCIUS (1797-1864)
The Fly Fisher’s Guide, illustrated by coloured plates, representing upwards of forty of the most useful flies, accurately copied from Nature.By Geo. C. Bainbridge. Liverpool, printed for the author by G.F. Harris’s widow and brothers, 1816. Bound with: GOTTLIEB BOCCIUS A treatise on the management of fresh-water fish, with e view to making them a source of profit to landed proprietors. By Gottlieb Boccius. London, John van Voorst, 1841.
§ 8vo (13x20x2 cm), viii, 150 pag. hand-coloured engraved plates (numbered 1-8, including frontispiece) and 7 in b/w (unnumbered), signature A1-4, B-K1-8, L1-4 (L4 blank); vi, 38 pag., signature A1-8, C1-8, D1-6 (C and D misnumbered for B and C), woodcut on title page (“Spiegel or Mirror Carp”). XIXth century dark green morocco binding, cover and spine richly gilt, dentelles inside covers, edges gilt; signed inside front cover on the lower marge “Bound by W. Pratt”. On the title page of the second work an old ownership entry (cut by de binder). Several engravings, cutout from books and magazines, have been pasted by a previous (possibly XIXth century) owner, in several of the free places available: on pastedowns, on the half title of the second work, as head- and tail pieces. Such insertions, however, have been applied in a way that, far from damaging the book, represent a pleasant addition. A very fine copy, with no trace of foxing.
Both works in first edition. 1st: it is the second angling book with hand-coloured engravings of natural flies (it was preceded only by George Scotcher's exceedingly rare Fly-fisher's Legacy, published in 1800) and it is considered the main source for Ronalds' Fly-fisher's Entomology of 1836 (see lot 172). The beautifully engraved and coloured plates depict the first coloured illustrations of salmon flies and forty natural flies suitable for trout-fishing as well as the artificial flies to be used in their place. The author also gives instructions to prepare the different artificial flies, the materials and tying techniques to be employed. Not much is known about the author, but that he was a merchant in Liverpool born in Jamaica, who died at Gattonside, in Scotland and that he was a close friend of sir Walter Scott. “The estate of Gattonside was purchased about this time by Mr. George Bainbridge of Liverpool ... Mr. Bainbridge had, amongo the rmerits, great skill in sports -especially in that which he has illustrated by the excellent manual entitled “TheFly-fisher'sGuide;” ...” (Lockhart); “... George Cole Bainbridge, Esq., of Gattonside ..., was born at St Anne's Bay, Jamaica, on 6th March 1788. ... Sir Walter Scott and this Mr Bainbridge were intimate friends and neighbours, their estates of Abbotsford and Gattonside adjoining being divided by the river Tweed. He died at Gattonside House in 1840, and was buried with others of the family in Melrose Abbey.” (Colt). 2nd: interesting work, giving instructions to restore the depleted stocks of fresh-water fishes (clearly a problem already felt!) in order to obtain a constant supply of food. Especially devoted to salmon and trout, it discusses topics such as artificial spawning, breeding, and rearing of fish. In the appendix, 23 German recipes for cooking different kind of fresh-water fishes are given. Gottlieb Boccius was a merchant and inventor; all informations about him are from a blog by one of his descendants: “Gottlieb, like his dad, was a merchant and general entrepreneur. In 1842 he applied for ‘a patent relating to gas and gas burners’, and in 1843 for ‘an arrangement and apparatus for the production and distribution of light’. ... In 1841, he published “A Treatise on the management of Fresh-Water Fish with a view to making them a source of profit to landed proprietors”... He was commissioned by the UK government in the 1850s to attempt to transport salmon and trout fry to Tasmania, to supplement the apparently inadequate native fish stock. ... He is recorded as submitting more patents to the London Patent Office in the 1850s and 60s, and died in London in 1864.”
BINDING: the beautiful binding is signed by W. Pratt. Most probably William Pitt Pratt, a bookbindeer active in London, according to the Brilish Library and to an exhibition held in in Glasgow: both sources states “William Pitt Pratt, who was in business as a binder in London from 1823 to 1838” but, as the second work of the present volume was published in 1841, the last date of activity of a binder atelier under this name must be postponed of at least three years.