The Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports

First edition. Three uncolored steel-engraved titles with vignettes, two uncolored steel-engraved portrait frontispieces, and fifty-seven plates (three uncolored, the others being hand colored lithographs after Thomas Doughty [23], M.E.D. Brown [16], J.G. Clonney [8] and others). vii,[1],298,[2]; vii,[3],292; 96pp. Text in two columns. 3 vols. 4to. "A mine of information on contemporary sport and natural history" (Phillips). A landmark of American sporting publication, issued in parts by the brothers Thomas and John Doughty. Subscriptions dwindled after Thomas departed for Boston, and the publication ceased with the 4th part of vol. III. "This was the first major book issued in the United States to be illustrated with hand-colored lithographic plates, preceded only by three minor books in the 1820s . an amalgam of natural history, sporting accounts, travel narratives, and practical advice for the countryman" (Reese) A rare complete set of the "American Field Sports" in exceptionally fine condition, with all the plates in their first states, none of the usual spotting or browning and including twenty-three original lithographs by Thomas Doughty, the founding father of the Hudson River School. The Cabinet of Natural History "an amalgam of natural history, sporting accounts, travel narratives, and practical advice for the countryman" (Reese), was started by brothers Thomas and John Doughty in Philadelphia. It was issued in monthly parts and ran from the end of 1830 until the spring of 1834 when it ceased publication. The first volume (made up of twelve parts ) was certainly the work of both Doughty brothers, with virtually all the plates being the work of Thomas, but by the time the third part of the second volume had been issued, the partnership had been broken up. Thomas had moved to Boston to pursue his career as a painter, and as of May 17, 1832, John Doughty was the sole proprietor. Evidently Thomas' input was sorely missed, and by mid-summer John was advising his subscribers that unless the level of support improved he would have to discontinue the publication. In the end the periodical continued for almost another year, with some excellent images from artists such as M.E.D. Brown and James Goodwyn Clooney, before John Doughty's prediction was fulfilled and the publication came to an abrupt halt with Part IV of the third volume. However, despite its relatively short life, The Cabinet of Natural History left behind an important legacy: Bennett calls it the "first major sport print color plate book produced in America," the text includes first-hand accounts of hunting expeditions of all kinds and are amongst the earliest of their kind (some of which were reprinted by the Derrydale Press in 1928), the plates include the "first colored sporting prints made in America" (Henderson), and most importantly the work includes a significant number of original lithographs by one of the great names in 19th-century American art. "Of all the predecessors to [Thomas] Cole and his followers, the single artist who could most reasonably claim Cole's mantle as the founder of the [Hudson River] school is the appealing figure of Thomas Doughty, who at one juncture was hailed as 'the all-American Claude Lorrain'.he was the leading landscape painter in Boston, traveled in England and France, and lived in New York City, Newburgh, and western New York.Doughty traveled extensively throughout the northeastern United States, painting rivers, mountains, and woods interiors that are memorable for their mood, tonality, and quality of light.[Tuckerman wrote] of his woodland landscapes, that 'there was often a cool, vivid tone, a true execution, and especially a genuine American character to them'" - Howat. As a painter Doughty "holds a place unique among artists of this country as having 'initiated the American discovery of the American landscape'" (Looney). His importance as a print maker has yet to be fully recognized or adequately defined for though "the.…