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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Field sports: fishing, hunting, shooting
At the end of the nineteenth century, Theodore Roosevelt, T. S. Van
Dyke, and other elite men began describing their big-game hunting
as "manly sport with the rifle." They also began writing about
their experiences, publishing hundreds of narratives of hunting and
adventure in the popular press (and creating a new literary genre
in the process). But why did so many of these big-game hunters
publish? What was writing actually doing for them, and what did it
do for readers? In exploring these questions, The Hunter Elite
reveals new connections among hunting narratives, publishing, and
the American conservation movement. Beginning in the 1880s these
prolific hunter-writers told readers that big-game hunting was a
test of self-restraint and "manly virtues," and that it was not
about violence. They also opposed their sportsmanlike hunting to
the slaughtering of game by British imperialists, even as they
hunted across North America and throughout the British Empire.
Their references to Americanism and manliness appealed to
traditional values, but they used very modern publishing
technologies to sell their stories, and by 1900 they were reaching
hundreds of thousands of readers every month. When hunter-writers
took up conservation as a cause, they used that reach to rally
popular support for the national parks and for legislation that
restricted hunting in the US, Canada, and Newfoundland. The Hunter
Elite is the first book to explore both the international nature of
American hunting during this period and the essential contributions
of hunting narratives and the publishing industry to the North
American conservation movement.
Ant developed a fascination for the natural world at an early age,
becoming especially passionate about fishing and diving. It has
been a constant theme throughout his life and so, when he was
diagnosed with Parkinson's at the early age of 48 years, it was
devastating. However, he was fortunate enough to be offered
ground-breaking brain surgery which enabled him to continue to
enjoy life. From the thrill of catching bass and the excitement of
diving for lobster and bull huss to the humour of marauding gerbils
in the biology lab and his childhood love for a pet crow - this
book will appeal to any reader who shares a passion for life.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Theodore Roosevelt, T. S. Van
Dyke, and other elite men began describing their big-game hunting
as "manly sport with the rifle." They also began writing about
their experiences, publishing hundreds of narratives of hunting and
adventure in the popular press (and creating a new literary genre
in the process). But why did so many of these big-game hunters
publish? What was writing actually doing for them, and what did it
do for readers? In exploring these questions, The Hunter Elite
reveals new connections among hunting narratives, publishing, and
the American conservation movement. Beginning in the 1880s these
prolific hunter-writers told readers that big-game hunting was a
test of self-restraint and "manly virtues," and that it was not
about violence. They also opposed their sportsmanlike hunting to
the slaughtering of game by British imperialists, even as they
hunted across North America and throughout the British Empire.
Their references to Americanism and manliness appealed to
traditional values, but they used very modern publishing
technologies to sell their stories, and by 1900 they were reaching
hundreds of thousands of readers every month. When hunter-writers
took up conservation as a cause, they used that reach to rally
popular support for the national parks and for legislation that
restricted hunting in the US, Canada, and Newfoundland. The Hunter
Elite is the first book to explore both the international nature of
American hunting during this period and the essential contributions
of hunting narratives and the publishing industry to the North
American conservation movement.
Bird decoys were used for hunting in North America until the advent
of hunting regulations in the early twentieth century, when decoys
started to be prized and collected as masterpieces of American folk
art. This handsome book is the first examination of the historic
and unparalleled decoy collection at Shelburne Museum. Featuring
new photography of 250 of the museum s most important and
artistically carved decoys, it includes examples made by the most
respected American carvers: Charles Osgood, Lem and Steve Ward,
John Blair, Bill Bowman, Nathan Cobb, Jr., Lee Dudley, James Holly,
Jr., Nathan Horner, Albert Laing, Joseph Lincoln, A. Elmer Crowell,
and Charles Shang Wheeler. The story of the collection begins with
Joel Barber, the pioneer decoy enthusiast and New York architect,
artist, and carver, whose gift of 400 superior examples established
the collection in 1952. Several essays provide groundbreaking
scholarship on the origins, construction, and attribution of bird
decoys, imparting critical advancements to our modern understanding
of this revered tradition.
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