Sport and Life on the Pacific Slope 1908 Colonial Edition Vachell HP Sauce
Sport and Life on the Pacific Slope 1908 Colonial Edition by Horace Annesley Vachell with photographic plates and early HP Sauce industrial provenance.
 
Title & Bibliographic Details
Title: Sport and Life on the Pacific Slope
Author: Horace Annesley Vachell
Edition: New and Revised Edition – Colonial Edition
Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin, Adelphi Terrace, London
Date: 1908
Printer: Morrison & Gibb Ltd., Edinburgh
 
Issued as a Colonial Edition for circulation within the British Empire, this revised 1908 printing reflects the popularity of Vachell’s sporting and travel writing among readers interested in Anglo-American outdoor culture and frontier life.
 
Historical & Bibliographic Context
First published in the late nineteenth century following the author’s years in California, Sport and Life on the Pacific Slope combines a sporting memoir, with travel narrative, ranch life observation, and Anglo-American cultural commentary. 
Subjects include:
black bass fishing 
Californian trout streams 
tuna fishing 
ranch life 
ostrich farming 
wilderness camping 
Pacific-coast landscapes 
Colonial Editions such as this were produced specifically for readers across the British Empire and typically survive in smaller numbers than domestic editions.
 
About the Author
Horace Annesley Vachell (1861–1955) was a British novelist, sportsman, and traveller who spent several formative years in California before returning to England to pursue a literary career.
He is also credited with helping introduce polo to Southern California, and his writings frequently reflect his enthusiasm for outdoor sport, ranching culture, and transatlantic life experiences. His sporting travel works remain valued today as vivid accounts of late-Victorian and Edwardian frontier leisure culture.
 
Illustrations
Complete with photographic plates, including:
frontispiece portrait of the author (Elliott & Fry) 
Black Bass catch 
Ranch House scene 
How to Pluck an Ostrich 
Camping Out 
Oak Grove landscape 
Californian Trout Stream 
Three Hours’ Catch 
Leaping Tuna caught by C. F. Holder 
All plates are present and correctly inserted.
 
Binding & Exterior Condition
Bound in original red cloth boards with:
black lettering and illustration to front board 
gilt lettering to spine 
Condition:
rubbing to edges 
fading in places 
corner wear 
small tears at foot of spine 
marks and handling wear consistent with age 
Despite wear, the binding remains sound and structurally intact, entirely typical for a well-read colonial sporting title of this period.
No dust jacket present.
 
Interior Condition
Interior remains overall clean and readable:
light foxing, heavier toward front 
occasional page-edge marks 
occasional small creases 
small rip to margin of page 305 
edge tear to page 331 
light partial gutter exposure in places (pages remain secure) 
Binding remains firm overall.
All 340 pages present and complete.
 
Provenance
Ink ownership stamp:
E. S. Moore
York Lodge, Erdington
This stamp almost certainly refers to Edwin Samson Moore, founder of the Midland Vinegar Company of Aston, Birmingham, the business responsible for acquiring and commercialising the recipe later marketed as HP Sauce in the early twentieth century. 
The Moore family resided at York Lodge, Erdington, one of the substantial houses associated with industrial families connected to the Midland Vinegar Company and its successor enterprises.
Ownership markings from identifiable early twentieth-century industrial figures add appealing historical interest and strengthen the book’s provenance.
 
Physical Details
Pagination: 340 pages
Illustrations: complete photographic plate series
Dimensions: 22 cm × 14.5 cm × 4.5 cm
Weight: approx. 660 g
 
Rarity & Collector Notes
This Colonial Edition is less frequently encountered than domestic UK trade editions.