Our cats and all about them : their varieties, habits, and management, and for show, the standard of excellence and beauty /
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Tunbridge Wells [England] :
R. Clements and Co.,
1889.
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| Item Description: | Includes index. Forms part of the personal library materials in the Joseph and Elizabeth Robins Pennell Collection. Michael Laird, bookseller, description: Tall 4to (265 x 200 mm), original publisher’s buckram, gilt, completely untrimmed. Half-title, verso as signed limitation leaf, photographic frontispiece of the author + viii, 248 pp. With 72 monochrome text illustrations. Very good. One of the earliest, and certainly one of the most significant English handbook for "cat fanciers." Our copy belongs to the "Largest Paper Edition," limited to 120 copies, numbered and signed by the author (this being copy No. 120). "The first major British cat show was held in London's Crystal Palace in 1871, and was organized by the writer and cat artist Harrison Weir. He wanted to interest people to have the opportunity of observing the different colors, markings and breeds of cats, and included newly imported Siamese cats, a Persian and an Abyssinian. The show was a huge success, and it became an annual event. Queen Victoria, who loved cats, acquired two Blue Persians. In 1887, the National Cat Club was formed, with Harrison Weir as its President, and registration procedures were instituted. This marked the beginning of the cat fancy as it is known today. The first cat show to attract wide attention in the USA took place at Madison Square Garden, New York, in 1895. In 1899 [recte: 1889], Weir published his book 'Our Cats and All About Them,' in which he set out clear and concise standards of excellence, by which all the breeds and varieties could be judged." (SOURCE: Louisa Somerville, The Ultimate Guide To Cat Breeds: A Useful Means of Identifying the Cat Breeds of the World and how to Care for Them , 2016, p. 16. Although uncredited, it is almost certain that Harrison Weir was the artist responsible for the 72 text illustrations herein. |
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| Physical Description: | viii, 248 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm |