This book is titled "The True Enjoyment of Angling" by Henry Phillips, Esq. and it is a Subscriber's Copy, with only one hundred printed; it was printed in London by William Stevens and is a first edition from 1843, in a fine binding by Hayday. There is a note on the front flyleaf which describes the book perfectly: "Phillips, (H.) The True Enjoyment Of Angling [being papers on the pleasures of each month, from March to September, with a SONG and the Music for Piano and Voice appropriate to each month]; FIRST EDITION, and a LARGE PAPER COPY, illustrated with a fine portrait of the author in piscatorial attire mezzotinted by Dawe; beautifully full bound in coeval green morocco, crushed and polished, the back and ample sides elaborately tooled with fish and other ornaments, gilt edges by HAYDAY, [ ], 1843 royal 8vo. Only 100 copies of this enthusiastic praise of Angling were printed for special subscribers, and such a fine one as this is PROBABLY UNIQUE. The binding is excellent and appropriate; there are TWO AUTOGRAPH LETTERS from the author inserted; and the large and very beautiful COLOURED BOOKPLATE of J. G. King Eyton of Shropshire, is on the inside cover. The author was the famous ballad singer who delighted London in the forties, and visited the United states in 1842, and the songs and music are his own composition." The consignor's grandfather bought this book on a visit to Scotland and gave it to the consignor's mom, so it's been in the consignor's family since the early 1900's. (His grandfather was a McLeod.) The book has five raised bands, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling on the spine, double gilt-fillet borders with elaborate gilt decorations on the covers, there's a beautiful diamond pattern engraved in gilt on all the page edges, with wide gilt dentelles and the colored bookplate of Joseph Gualteri King Eyton on the front paste-down, the bookplate of William Loring Andrews on the front flyleaf, and Hayday's name is mentioned on the bottom of the blank endpaper after the front flyleaf, followed by the two letters signed by the author, then the frontis mezzotint portrait of the author holding an early fishing rod, the title page, a dedication page from the author to Samuel Cartwright, a five-page Subscriber's list, and 138 pages of text, including songs and musical notation written by the author himself. The songs are about fishing and are divided into the months of the year, from March to September, each month has an essay and a song set to music, and the songs seem to correspond to the months of the angling season in England. Coeval green morocco means the binding is roughly the same age as the text, so the binding was done approximately the same time the book was published, "Ne Tentes, Aut Perfice" under the author's name on the title page literally means "do not attempt or else" and figuratively it means "all or nothing", and the book is a first edition, according to WorldCat. Henry Phillips (1801-1876) was born in Bristol and was an English singer who composed music for many songs. When he was eight, he appeared as a boy singer at the Harrogate Theatre, and soon after was engaged to sing soprano parts, first at the Haymarket Theatre and then at Drury Lane; he participated in provincial music festivals and took on operatic roles in the 1820's and 1830's. He retired at a farewell concert in February 1863 and died in Dalton in 1876. Joseph Gualteri King Eyton was actually Joseph Walter King Eyton (1819 - 1872), a noted book collector and famous ballad singer who performed in London in the 1840's; his large oval bookplate was printed in four colors by Charles Whittingham and the binding by Hayday was a typically striking binding commissioned by Eyton. William Loring Andrews was an American rare book collector, publisher, and librarian. He was a trustee and the first librarian of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and a supporter of the museum for forty years. From 1888 to 1892, he served as the founder and president of the Grolier Club and was a prominent collector of rare books of English and American literature. James Hayday (1796-1872) was an English bookbinder who was born in London and worked as a journeyman for several years, then became one of the auditors of the Journeymen Bookbinders' Trade Society in 1825, and his bindings were known for their quality. He didn't like traditional bindings because constantly opening and closing books disfigured the grain of the leather, and to get around this Hayday introduced the cross or pin-headed grain known as Turkey morocco. In his own bindings he sewed the books fully along every sheet, a technique that caused extra thickness in the book, which Hayday remedied by sewing with silk, rather than thread, and to make the back tight, he dispensed with ordinary paper backing and fastened the leather cover down to the back. Works bound by Hayday became famous and increased in monetary value because of his care and attention to detail and the quality of workmanship in the books. He retired in 1861 because of bankruptcy, then partnered with William Mansell until he retired for good in 1869. The first letter reads "13 May, 35 Hart St, Bloomsbury, [ ] I will take the very earliest opportunity of singing it, be assured - I am [ ] yours, Henry Phillips", and it is dated "1844" in pencil on the back of the letter. Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, a fashionable residential area and the location of numerous cultural and educational institutions, including the British Museum. The second letter folds out and reads "10th Nov 184[ ] 35 Hart St. Bloomsbury. [ ] Be sure I will not lose sight of my promise. I am [ ] to you, Henry Phillips", and the address side of the envelope reads "James Clarke, 79 [ ] Litchfield St, Portland Place", and the candlewax seal which would have held the envelope closed is missing now, which attests to the authenticity of the letter. (It was there at one time …) The book is royal 8vo. and measures 9 7/8 x 6 1/4 in. wide, the binding is tight and the pages and text are very clean, including the sheet music, with brown spots on the page after the letters, on the frontis and title pages, and on the blank endpapers at the rear, light offset on the title page from the author's portrait on the frontis, and rubbing to the edges of the spine and the tips. Still in very good condition, and a rare copy of this English angling title in a fine binding from the 1840's. #130 #1595