Yale Center for British Art

Creator:

Alken, Henry Thomas, 1784-1851

Title:

The night riders of Nacton : a series of four plates, beautifully coloured / from original drawings by Henry Alken ; shewing the rise, progress, and downfalling of "The first steeple chase on record" ; from an authentic account published in the "Sporting Review," No. 1, for January, 1839.

Alternate Title(s):

First steeple chase on record

Published / Created:

[London] : Rudolph Ackermann, Eclipse Sporting Gallery and Sporting Review Office, no. 191, Regent Street, London, 1839.

Physical Description:

[2] p., [4] leaves of plates : ill. ; 49 x 62 cm.

Holdings:

Rare Books and Manuscripts
Folio B 2010 6 Copy 1
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Rare Books and Manuscripts
Folio B 2010 6 Copy 2
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Copyright Status:

Classification:

Books

Notes:

Aquatint engravings by John Harris (1791?-1873).

Alken's four original watercolors reproduced in the present series are now in the collections of the Yale Center for British Art (Department of Prints and Drawings, B1995.23.6-9).

"Ackermann's sporting gallery, no. 1."--Head of cover title.

"Price £1, 16s. Whitehead and Co., printers, 76 Fleet Street, London."--Foot of cover title.

Pages [2]-[4] of the wrappers include Rudolph Ackermann's advertisements for his "Repository of Arts and Eclipse Sporting Gallery", watercolor supplies, and the "The grand national sporting gallery."

Siltzer, F. The story of British sporting prints, p. 53-55, 63

British sporting and animal prints, 1658-1874, 70

BAC: British Art Center copy 1 is in original printed buff wrappers; unstitched. Includes the first issue of plate III , with the wrong shadow for the five-barred gate. Green cloth case bears the bookplate of Henry C. Taylor.

BAC: British Art Center copy 2 is in original printed buff wrappers; unstitched. Includes the first issue of plate III , with the wrong shadow for the five-barred gate. In a red cloth case.

Contents:

Plate I. Ipswich, the watering-place behind the barracks. Preparing to start. All sorts of odds. The grey for choice -- Plate II. The large field near Biles's Corner. Whoop! and away! The Major in trouble. Subden's linen suffers. -- Plate III. The last field near Nacton Heath. Accomplished smashers & a run upon the bank -- Plate IV. Nacton Church, and village. The finish, a good five still alive, grand chorus, "The lads of the village!"

Exhibition History:

Paul Mellon's Legacy : A Passion for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)

Subject Terms:

Steeplechasing -- Great Britain -- History. | Steeplechasing -- Great Britain -- Pictorial works. | Horse racing -- Great Britain -- Pictorial works. | Taylor, Henry C. -- Bookplate.

Form/Genre:

Aquatints. | Publishers' advertisements.

Contributors:

Cooper, Sidney. Inquiry into the origin of steeple-chases, with an authentic account of the earliest steeple-chase on record. | Harris, John, 1791?-1873, engraver. | Ackermann, Rudolph, 1764–1834, publisher. | Whitehead and Co. (London, England), printer.