A sketch of the life and eccentricities of the late Mr. Lumley Kettlewell, of the city of York: : who, with the manners of a gentleman delighting in the sports of the field- a comptency sufficient for their enjoyment- a practical knowledge of every requisite essential thereto- a constitution peculiarly adapted for the chase, &c.- possessed of blood horses- game dogs- and manor of his own- refused both to his live stock and to himself sustenance necessary to support animal existence, and to keep "live and soul together." /
Michael Laird, bookseller, description: Woodcut plate of a thoroughbred mare and foal facing p. [53] of the first sequence, engraved plates of Kettlewell’s stables and dwelling opposite pp. 20 and 23 in the second sequence, and two identical engraved portraits of Richard Thompson, “one of the Alder...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
York: :
Printed by J. Wolstenholme, for the Publisher; and sold by all the booksellers in the city and county.,
1821.
|
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Michael Laird, bookseller, description: Woodcut plate of a thoroughbred mare and foal facing p. [53] of the first sequence, engraved plates of Kettlewell’s stables and dwelling opposite pp. 20 and 23 in the second sequence, and two identical engraved portraits of Richard Thompson, “one of the Aldermen of York”; some minor staining. Early calf; recently rebacked. Hodge-podge of accounts of Lumley Kettlewell, the well-to-do Yorkshireman who became so miserly that he starved his livestock and, finally, himself, prompting national legislation against cruelty to cattle (the legislation is printed here in four pages, after p. 64, and is entitled: Anno Tertio Georgii IV Regis. Cap. LXXI. An Act to prevent the cruel and improper Treatment of Cattle. 22 July 1822). Kettlewell (1751-1820) was once a York gentleman of some means; in his 30s he turned into a wretched hermit and horder, who believed that eating food was "an acquired and a pernicious habit." C.H. Stephenson writes: "To prove that his theory was correct, he bought very valuable horses, weaned them by degrees, and when weakness overtook them he hung them in strips of cotton; but he no sooner got them to live without food, than, much to his annoyance and contrary to his expectations, they died." (SOURCE: "Lumley Rettlewell, a York Eccentric" by C.H. Stephenson, in: Monthly Chronicle of North-Country Lore and Legend, Newcastle, Vol. 4, Iss. 46, [Dec 1890]: 563-564). Kettlewell inflicted this same horrid fate upon thoroughbred horses, pedigree dogs, cattle, and many other animals. This is a curious conglomeration of Yorkshire imprints which we are not able to explain bibliographically. The above-transcribed title-page and perhaps some of the preliminary leaves seem to be from Wolstenholme’s York printing, but the only two copies listed in Worldcat (Huntington and National Sporting Library) are 20 cm tall and are paginated 1-51. Either the present copy is incomplete (?) or we are looking at two separate editions. However, most of the other bits herein, including the longest and apparently complete account of Kettlewell in 67 pages, have colophons identifying the printer as S. Jowett of Leeds. Jowett was active in Leeds in the early 1820s, but we can find no record of his having published any series of accounts of eccentrics that might have included the subjects here. Scarce: as of this writing there is nothing on the market that has anything to do with Lumley Kettlewell and the Parliamentary Legislation that resulted from his crimes against animals. Rare Book Hub, which currently has more than 8.6 million records in the Rare Book Transactions Database, traces only a single copy that has ever appeared at auction, namely at Dominic Winter, 3/31/2010, lot 247. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Publisher's advertisements, first [2] pages. "Price one shilling"--Page [1], which is a publisher's advertisement for this work. |
| Physical Description: | [4], 51, [1] p. : il. (woodcuts) ; 20 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |
| Place of Publication: | England -- York. |