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Atkinson, Herbert. A Brief Bibliography.  with some extra notes and comments.

As always any errors and omissions mine, and any comment , analysis,  additions, or removal requests happily considered, and may be published with attribution. Jim Finger

 

 

       

 

The Old English Game Fowl: its history, description, management , Breeding and feeding.

First edition  1891  66p 5 drawings by the author and 2 old engravings. 8vo ( about A5)  Fanciers Gazette London. Wrappers.

First edition Presentation format.  Red cloth large  format issue of 100 copies. About A4 size mostly signed  copies. Rarest are the signed copies.

 

 

2^nd Edition  1899 The Fanciers Newspaper at Idle Yorkshire is slightly smaller format 72pp 5 plates 3 folded and 2 figures by HA. Plus the same 2 engravings as 1^st ed.

 

 

3^rd Edition  Feathered World  56pp 6 plates (not folded) plus the same figures and engravings.

 

 

 

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4^th ed Feathered World 1924 included additional chapters on Spanish Game and the Asil

 

 

5^th Edition  a reprint of the 4^th ed by the Oxford Club in the early 1950’s

 

 

A later edition lets call it the 6^th edition was reprinted by Saiga, Hindhead 1981, 66pp large format about A4  colour DJ with a b/w engravings. One of the quality productions by Batty, many  were not so good.

     

      

A later edition of 1924 Edition was produced by Ian Selby stapled wrappers.             

 

 

 

Atkinson OEG has been reproduced many times, at present at least 3 different copies available as print on demand of variable quality on  various websites like ebay  from about $5USD for a scan copy to 20 USD for a print copy.  Mostly passable reading copies. Maybe  one  day they will be collectors items too.

 

 

 

Herbert Atkinson was a foundation members of the Oxford Old English Game Fowl Club, started in 1885 to save the traditional English Game Fowl from extinction. He was also a fine artist and his paintings are highly sought after.   (Ref John Palmer.)  He was encouraged to write the  above book by Sir Edward Brown. ( ref  Memoirs at Eventide)

 

 

 

 

 

The Life and Letters of  John Harris, the Cornish Cocker  77pp portrait frontis, 2 plates and 2 drawings  small  A5 size. . Wallingford 1910.

As far as I know one edition of 200 copies, but released in 2 states. 100 copies cloth and 100 copes paper covered boards. Rare.  John Harris wrote many articles in the Livestock Journal in the 1870’s (which later became the Fanciers Gazette) under the pen name of “Game Cock “ as well as other journals in the USA. His1875 article on cockfighting was reprinted in Lewis wright New Book Of Poultry 1902. He also contributed a chapter to Grays’s Cockers manual 1878. Refer to A famous Breeder by Sir Edward Brown Feathered World 8^th March 1935 p354. Also Palmer and Norris1997.

 

Notes on Artificial Cock Spurs, 5pp plus 3 full page plates of drawings of spurs.  1919  Published in in black paper wrappers. An unknown number were printed And I don’t know of another edition. However work was later added into Cockfighting and Game Fowl listed below. a small A4 size.  No picture.  but happy to add one.

 

 

 

 

 

Books on Game Cocks HA  Grit and Steel November 1931 4pp. Not a book but of importance to those who collect Atkinson. (Probably suited to a small offprint.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cockfighting and Game Fowl, from the notebooks of Herbert Atkinson of Ewelme. Edited by Gamecock ( pseud. G J Looker. 253pp small A4 10 colour and 12 B/W plates  by Atkinson. Published by Geo Baytun Bath 1938. ( Palmer)  First Edition  Rare 

Atkinson died in Ewelme  in 1936. This work was complied after his death.

Almost always,  the dustjacket on this books is discolored as it was treated in a clear PVC wrapper over the printed jacket which features a painting by Parsons  of a Seville cockpit. Also 3 copies I have seen all have some discoloration on the inside fee endpaper as a result of the slightly acidic  glue used in the cover. The plates were also tipped in, printed  on gloss paper but the body is a thicker  rag paper. ( #2982  Usual discolored front free ep, and discolored dustjacket)

 

 

 

Reprinted by Spur Publications  in  1977 and 1981 with a total of 3 impressions, all identical. Small A4 in good paper, with dustjacket. The content is identical to the  original  however the dustjacket picture was not on this edition. Instead it was replaced with  “The Ginger Breasted Ginger Red  by Parsons”  from opposite  p113.

 

Coments. 

Atkinson lived in the small town Of Ewelme  4km from where he was born in Wallingford, south Oxfordshire.  His home still stands there, often visited by fanciers, to peep through the bushes at the old house. I am told many additions in recent times have destroyed the character of the old house. One would be surprised if it were not so, 100 years on.. But asking around the town the name is well known and relatives of people like Sir Edward Brown still live in the area. Brown was a good friend of Atkinson though from the other side of the poultry fence, and encouraged him to publish the OEG work.

I visited the town a few years ago and found the Local Anglican Church a fascinating place. The Rector was happy to show me around and explain many of the inreresting features. It is Queen Elizabeth’s personal church in that she is responsible for the appointment of the minister, though I don’t think she visits at all.

The church houses a lot of interesting history of the area, and when the Rector found we had an eye to real history, we were shown a couple for interesting items. The communion plate and goblet from the wedding of Henry the Eighth and Ann Bolyn. Many old history stories going back to Saxon times  (the original tiny chapel is now attached to the side of the church) , the alms houses ( they were poor peoples houses not rented out, not arms houses) and the oldest continuous primary school  in England. There is a lot of the town that would have been familiar to Atkinson.  His house isn’t easy to find, but asking at the local shop gets you there.

My biggest disappointment is that the digital camera was somehow set to over right pictures and so I lost about 100 shots of that area  before I discovered the problem.