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A Book on Duck Shooting by Van Campen Heilner ➤ Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1946 7th printing
A Book on Duck Shooting by Van Campen Heilner Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1946 7th printing
Title: A Book on Duck Shooting
Author: Van Campen Heilner
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1946
Edition: 7th printing
Size: 6.25 X 9.5 X 2.25 * 533 pages i-x
Synopsis: Foreword - As an enthusiast, Van Campen Heilner is a world-beater. A reader of this book might conclude that shooting is the author's all-absorbing avocation. On the other hand, those whose acquaintance with him comes by way of "Salt Water Fishing" or one of his earlier piscatorial works, would feel equally sure that his only purpose in life is to wield a rod.
Both assumptions, and more that might be derived from closer contact, are wrong, for each interest represents but a single facet of a many-sided personality. I know Van not only as sportsman and photographer but also as conservationist, naturalist, honorary colleague on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History, collaborator with scientific men who more closely approximate the "bone-dry" breed, navigator, boat-handler, tireless worker in the field, and one whose energy is capable of lasting well into the night of a day that began before dawn. He is never too weary, indeed, to be the life of the party. He promptly gets under the skin of folk of all walks of society and of complexions that vary from white through red and brown to black. With equal facility he learns the lingo, whether it be a mysterious form of West Indian English or French, or a Spanish that ranges from jargon to Castilian. Furthermore, he is a dry sponge for local traditions, superstitions, prejudices, yarns and ballads; he is the only man I know who could possibly fulfill Joe Cook's hard requirement of " imitating four Hywaiians."
For years I have browsed with him in the woods and waters, and once or twice have shared his duck blind. I know him best, however, as my volunteer associate on an expedition to western South America, when we found the seas rough, the weather execrable and the going hard. Yet during many weeks in the field there was no task too fatiguing or monotonous for him, no problem that foiled his resourcefulness.
I remember a rainy morning in February, 1925, when I shot an oystercatcher on the outer coast of Ecuador. The bird was collected with the object of settling a question of geographic distribution, affecting two races of imperfectly known range, but, unfortunately, it fell and stayed in the ocean beyond the breakers, and we had no boat. While pondering over the next I saw Van's clothes in a heap on the beach and his head bobbing in the foam. If I had attempted to remind him at that moment about the sharks that compelled our daily admiration, he probably couldn't have heard me anyway. At least I'm happy to report that the oystercatcher, now in the Museum, gave the answer to what we sought.
Van here offers us his record of duck shooting, and what a picture he gives of the concentrations of waterfowl in favored marshes from California to Romania! Time was, before despoliation of watersheds and the wiping out of such a useful hydraulic engineer as the beaver, before reckless drainage and lowering of the water table, before wanton overshooting had done its wrecking, before a score of other unnecessary accompaniments of the settlement of North America, when such marvels were close at hand for all to see.
Can we bring them back? Perhaps: if we remember that with natural resources, as with money, we can't take out more than current interest without drawing on our capital; if the fraternity of gunners will follow the standards of its own most enlightened representatives; if public sentiment becomes educated to an understanding of the meaning of "balanced nature"; if the shooters will recognize that man himself, not this or that predatory animal, is the significant enemy of game re- sources; if we can all learn that wildlife, even under undisturbed conditions, does not flow along in a stream of even volume but is subject to fluctuations attuned with other cosmic phenomena. It is gratifying to find a recognition of such matters in a volume for sportsmen.
Robert Cushman Murphy
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
NEW YORK
August, 1939
Overall Condition: Good + It has very minimal wear to the cover and no holes or tears. The dust jacket is not included. The binding has minimal wear. The pages are undamaged with no creasing or tearing, no pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins. There are no missing pages; see images.
Secure shipping bubble-wrapped in a new box.
2026--U.S. shipping for this (Three Pounds Media Mail) is $5.97 with tracking.
Multiple items will be combined for the lowest shipping price.
International Shipping cost is based on the destination so inquire before buying. Mobile users must scroll to the bottom and click on 'use desktop site' to bring up the Ask a Question link which sends me an email.
(PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE MAKING ANY PAYMENT FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S.)
==========================================================================================================================
Just about all the books are USED books. Some have been used more gently than others. Some have been in libraries and have typical library extras. Some are so old and/or interesting that they are being offered for the sake of preservation regardless of the condition they are in. If the condition of the book is very important to you, please feel free to click the 'Ask seller a question' link and I will tell you more.
=========================================================================================
Title: A Book on Duck Shooting
Author: Van Campen Heilner
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1946
Edition: 7th printing
Size: 6.25 X 9.5 X 2.25 * 533 pages i-x
Synopsis: Foreword - As an enthusiast, Van Campen Heilner is a world-beater. A reader of this book might conclude that shooting is the author's all-absorbing avocation. On the other hand, those whose acquaintance with him comes by way of "Salt Water Fishing" or one of his earlier piscatorial works, would feel equally sure that his only purpose in life is to wield a rod.
Both assumptions, and more that might be derived from closer contact, are wrong, for each interest represents but a single facet of a many-sided personality. I know Van not only as sportsman and photographer but also as conservationist, naturalist, honorary colleague on the staff of the American Museum of Natural History, collaborator with scientific men who more closely approximate the "bone-dry" breed, navigator, boat-handler, tireless worker in the field, and one whose energy is capable of lasting well into the night of a day that began before dawn. He is never too weary, indeed, to be the life of the party. He promptly gets under the skin of folk of all walks of society and of complexions that vary from white through red and brown to black. With equal facility he learns the lingo, whether it be a mysterious form of West Indian English or French, or a Spanish that ranges from jargon to Castilian. Furthermore, he is a dry sponge for local traditions, superstitions, prejudices, yarns and ballads; he is the only man I know who could possibly fulfill Joe Cook's hard requirement of " imitating four Hywaiians."
For years I have browsed with him in the woods and waters, and once or twice have shared his duck blind. I know him best, however, as my volunteer associate on an expedition to western South America, when we found the seas rough, the weather execrable and the going hard. Yet during many weeks in the field there was no task too fatiguing or monotonous for him, no problem that foiled his resourcefulness.
I remember a rainy morning in February, 1925, when I shot an oystercatcher on the outer coast of Ecuador. The bird was collected with the object of settling a question of geographic distribution, affecting two races of imperfectly known range, but, unfortunately, it fell and stayed in the ocean beyond the breakers, and we had no boat. While pondering over the next I saw Van's clothes in a heap on the beach and his head bobbing in the foam. If I had attempted to remind him at that moment about the sharks that compelled our daily admiration, he probably couldn't have heard me anyway. At least I'm happy to report that the oystercatcher, now in the Museum, gave the answer to what we sought.
Van here offers us his record of duck shooting, and what a picture he gives of the concentrations of waterfowl in favored marshes from California to Romania! Time was, before despoliation of watersheds and the wiping out of such a useful hydraulic engineer as the beaver, before reckless drainage and lowering of the water table, before wanton overshooting had done its wrecking, before a score of other unnecessary accompaniments of the settlement of North America, when such marvels were close at hand for all to see.
Can we bring them back? Perhaps: if we remember that with natural resources, as with money, we can't take out more than current interest without drawing on our capital; if the fraternity of gunners will follow the standards of its own most enlightened representatives; if public sentiment becomes educated to an understanding of the meaning of "balanced nature"; if the shooters will recognize that man himself, not this or that predatory animal, is the significant enemy of game re- sources; if we can all learn that wildlife, even under undisturbed conditions, does not flow along in a stream of even volume but is subject to fluctuations attuned with other cosmic phenomena. It is gratifying to find a recognition of such matters in a volume for sportsmen.
Robert Cushman Murphy
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
NEW YORK
August, 1939
Overall Condition: Good + It has very minimal wear to the cover and no holes or tears. The dust jacket is not included. The binding has minimal wear. The pages are undamaged with no creasing or tearing, no pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins. There are no missing pages; see images.
Secure shipping bubble-wrapped in a new box.
2026--U.S. shipping for this (Three Pounds Media Mail) is $5.97 with tracking.
Multiple items will be combined for the lowest shipping price.
International Shipping cost is based on the destination so inquire before buying. Mobile users must scroll to the bottom and click on 'use desktop site' to bring up the Ask a Question link which sends me an email.
(PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE MAKING ANY PAYMENT FROM OUTSIDE THE U.S.)
==========================================================================================================================
Just about all the books are USED books. Some have been used more gently than others. Some have been in libraries and have typical library extras. Some are so old and/or interesting that they are being offered for the sake of preservation regardless of the condition they are in. If the condition of the book is very important to you, please feel free to click the 'Ask seller a question' link and I will tell you more.
=========================================================================================
