THOMSON, Hugh (Illustr.). SOMERVILLE, William. The Chase

THOMSON, Hugh (Illustr.). SOMERVILLE, William. The Chase. Illustrated by Hugh Thomson. London: Redway, 1896. Foolscap octavo. Gilt decorated cloth. Original blue cloth, spine and front board decorated in gilt with foxhunters. Top edge gilt. A very good copy. “The Chase” is probably the most famous epic length poem and paean to foxhunting and one that most definitely helped shape the ritual and lore of the sport that was to have its culmination in the nineteenth century when city nobs would embrace it. Thomson’s illustrations prettify the eighteenth century garb and milieu at a time that nostalgia for the period was especially pronounced. Although rendered in black and white, admirers of Thomson’s sentimental realism will not be disappointed.