Fish by Schaldach: Collected Etchings, Drawings, and Watercolors of Trout and Salmon - 1937

Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1937. First edition. Very Good +. Deluxe publisher's vellum with gilt to spine and front board. Top edge gilt. Signed limited edition, this 135 of 157, with an original signed etching as frontispiece. Bookplate to front pastedown. Some staining to boards and spotting to preliminaries, but internally fresh and bright with 60 illustrations by Schaldach. [With] the first trade edition, this being 699/1560, in original blue publisher's cloth with gilt to spine and front board. Spine sunned and toned; shelfwear to extremities. Remnant of removed bookplates to front and rear pastedowns; bookplate to front endpaper. Internally clean and unmarked. Both books housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. Born in Indiana in 1896, William Schaldach began building his name as an artist in the 1920s, drawing inspiration from the fish, wildflowers, waterfowl, and landscapes that shaped his childhood. "After serving in the Navy, he had attended the Art Student's League in New York where he studied under John Sloan, George Bridgman, and Harry Wickey, who taught him techniques of drypoint, etching, and aquatint" (Annex). The present pair of works are the most popular and successful of his titles. A pleasing pair of illustrated angling books. Very Good +.