Books and Manuscripts

From The Sporting Library Of American Adventurer, Naturalist, and Sportsman, Brooke Dolan II

1. Smith, Jerome V.C.
Natural History of the Fishes of Massachusetts, Embracing a Practical Essay on Angling
Boston: Allen and Ticknor, 1833. First edition. 12mo. Publisher's green cloth with orange paper spine label; in custom maroon box with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel. Bruns S-200; Westwood and Satchell, p. 196

Generally accepted as the first American book on fishing, and “therefore a keystone of any collection.” (Bruns)

2. Levinge, Captain R(obert).G.A. 
Echoes From The Backwoods; or Sketches of Transatlantic Life
London: Henry Colburn, 1846. In two volumes. First edition. 8vo. Publisher's light green cloth, stamped in blind and in gilt; yellow endpapers; in custom maroon box with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel.

3. Lanman, Charles
Adventures of An Angler in Canada, Nova Scotia and the United States
London: Richard Bentley, 1848. First English edition. 8vo. Publisher's dark green cloth, stamped in blind and in gilt; in custom maroon slip-case and chemise with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel. Sage, p. 126; Westwood and Satchell, p. 130

4. (Prime, William Cowper)
The Owl Creek Letters, and Other Correspondence
New York: Baker & Scribner, 1848. First edition. 8vo. Publisher's brown cloth, stamped in blind and in gilt; all edges trimmed; in custom maroon slip-case and chemise with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel.

5. (Prime, William Cowper)
The Old House by the River
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1853. First edition. 8vo. Publisher's dark blue cloth, spine stamped in blind and in gilt; all edges trimmed; yellow endpapers; in custom maroon slip-case and chemise with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel.

6. (Roosevelt, Robert) Barnwell
Game Fish of the Northern States of America, and British Provinces
New York: Carleton, 1862. First edition. 12mo. Publisher's maroon cloth, stamped in blind and in gilt; all edges trimmed; brown endpapers; in custom maroon box with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel. Sage, p. 171, Westwood and Satchell, p. 179

7. Hallock, Charles
The Fishing Tourist: Angler's Guide and Reference Book
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1873. First edition. 8vo. Publisher's blue cloth, stamped in black and in gilt; all edges trimmed; brown endpapers; in custom maroon slip-case and chemise with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel. Sage, p. 107, Westwood and Satchell, p. 111

8. Dawson, George
Pleasures of Angling with Rod and Reel for Trout and Salmon
New York: Sheldon & Company, 1876. First edition. 12mo. Publisher's pictorial terracotta cloth, stamped in blind, black and in gilt; all edges trimmed; green endpapers; old bookseller's description mounted to front paste-down; gift inscription on first free leaf; first gathering completely detached; in custom brown slip-case and chemise with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel. Bruns D-38; Westwood and Satchell, p. 77

"This was the first book dedicated to fly fishing in America. The author wrote for the Albany Evening Journal. Scarce" (Bruns)

9. Henshall, James A. 
Book of the Black Bass…
Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co, 1881. First American edition. 12mo. Publisher's green pictorial cloth, stamped in blind and in gilt; all edges trimmed; decorated endpapers; in custom maroon slip-case and chemise with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel. Sage, p. 111; Westwood and Satchell, p. 115

10. Prime, W(illiam).C(owper). 
Among the Northern Hills
New York: Harper and Brothers, 1895. First edition. 12mo. Publisher's olive green cloth, stamped in silver, blind, and in gilt; top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed; in custom maroon slip-case and chemise with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel.

11. Van Dyke, Henry
Fisherman's Luck…
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899. First edition. 8vo. Publisher's pictorial light green cloth, stamped in gilt, designed by HVD; top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed; in custom brown slip-case and chemise with “Brooke Dolan 1940” stamped in gilt on front panel. Westwood and Satchell (Supplement), p. 255

A fine copy. 

Condition varies. Lot sold with all faults. 

Brooke Dolan II (1908-45) was an American adventurer, naturalist, sportsman, and book collector. Educated at Harvard University and Princeton University, he later became a trustee of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. During the 1930s he led two notable expeditions to China and Tibet, collecting numerous specimens that he sent back for the Academy's collection. In 1942, during World War II, he was recruited to serve in the OSS (precursor of the CIA) and traveled to Lhasa with Ilya Tolstoy (grandson of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy), searching for supply routes to China for the Allied Forces. During this time they established contact with the Tibetan government and met the seven-year-old 14th Dalai Lama--the first Americans to ever do so. He then joined the Army Air Forces, and the United States Military Observer Group in Western China, behind Japanese lines near Mao’s headquarters. He died in 1945.