The American Wild Turkey - Dressed to Impress

Friday, November 20, 2015

As I write this column, turkey season is upon us. For me, this means the season of turkey feasting, not hunting. Nonetheless, it seems an appropriate time to recognize a title that has recently come our way as part of a larger collection on hunting, rifles, and gunsmithing, to complement our holdings on the history of the black powder industry. “In the minds of those who cherish the literature of turkey hunting,” as expressed in the review posted online by Dr. Jim Casada, “the original 1949 edition of The American Wild Turkey by Henry Edward Davis is the cornerstone of any serious library dedicated to the sport.” Thankfully, this work is now available at Hagley.

This book imparts a thorough discussion of the characteristics of Meleagris gallopavo in its habitat, particularly in the author’s native state of South Carolina, and an engaging account of the traditions and methods associated with the hunt. But the feature of this hardback that charms me as a librarian is its dust jacket.  

Illustrated on front with a colorful painting of the venerable wild bird by Walter A. Weber, surprisingly it is also printed on back with publisher’s advertisements. 

Thomas Samworth of the Small-Arms Technical Publishing Company takes full advantage of this medium to promote other titles in press, but also to introduce the series of Samworth Prints on Firearms. To launch this new enterprise, he presents lithographs of two historical paintings by Gayle P. Hoskins: Trade From the Monongahela and The Rifle Frolic, 1775

Coincidentally, these images also appear as illustrations in another recent Hagley acquisition, a textbook called Your Country’s Story (Boston : Ginn and Company, 1953). The illustrations have also been donated to our audiovisual collection.

Dust jackets were first introduced to the book trade as cloth wrappers during the early 19th century to protect delicate silk bindings underneath, and paper covers evolved over the following decades as a marketing tool. Relatively few of the early specimens survive, as they apparently were discarded into the dust bin. But modern book collectors have developed a greater appreciation for these artifacts. We are fortunate that Hagley’s copy of The American Wild Turkey is indeed adorned by its dust jacket, which has been treated by our Conservation staff to stabilize it and reduce wear. It is the current practice of our Published Collections Department to retain all dust jackets and fit each one to its matching book with a CoLibri transparent cover. While this protective system inhibits readers from removing the cover in the future, you may view a scan of this unique dust jacket in its entirety as a PDF file through the bibliographic record in our online public catalog.

Alice Hanes is the Technical Services Librarian, Published Collections Department, at Hagley.

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