Courage: The Story of Modern Cockfighting

Tim Pridgen

Edité par Little, Brown & Co, Boston, 1938

First edition (stated) and with "Published October, 1938" only on copyright page. Hardcover in black cloth stamped and lettered in red and silver with a design of a fighting cock front cover. Top edge red. Title page printed in red and black. xi+ 263 pp. with glossary. Profusely illustrated with with numerous full page individual and double photographs . A tight, near fine example, the only appreciable fault being a very narrow strip of loss along the head edge of the spine. Lengthy gift inscription on the front free endpaper. A classic and highly sought after work on the blood sport of cockfighting in the modern era. The explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to witness cockfighting in the Philippines in 1521. The book to describe it was the 1607 "The Commendation of Cocks and Cock Fighting' and the first use of the term describing it as a "game" or "sport" in English was in 1634. This book details cockfighting as it was in the 1930s though it is now illegal throughout the United States as of 2007. It is presented partly as a conversation between a gamecock breeder and the author and deals with a general description of the birds uses, the arena or "pits", the training of the birds taking advantage of a natural proclivity to fight based on their breeding, the ancient use of gamecocks by the Greeks, Persians, etc, 'cockmasters" who raise. train, or sponsor the birds, a chapter on "Roosters Around The World", "The Code of the Cockers", a chapter on opposition, both legal and otherwise such as state laws, fines, etc, terminology that made its way into the common vernacular (such as "cock of the walk", "cocksure", etc. , famous champion fighting cocks in history and prices paid for them, and "The Rules of the Cockpit". The many photographs illustrating the book include images of the application of "gaffs" (the metal spurs wired to the feet of a gaming cock), interiors and exteriors of notable American cockpits, a game hen and her brood of chicks, a handler exhibiting wing, leg and running exercises, fights in progress, etc. N° de réf. du vendeur E35553

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : Courage: The Story of Modern Cockfighting
Éditeur : Little, Brown & Co, Boston
Date d'édition : 1938
Reliure : Hardcover
Etat : Near Fine
Edition : First edition.