The Premier Collection—Complete Matched/Numbered Set

The Premier Collection. A splendid offering for the discerning collector of all 50 titles in the Premier Collection from Briar Patch Press. These books feature all the attributes of a high-quality work—leatherbound, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, raised hubs, ribbon marker, etc. Moreover, most of the volumes include new introductory material from an expert in the subject matter. These pieces, specially commissioned for this collection, give background on the author, place the book in the context of literature in the field, and discuss how the volume has stood the demanding test of time in terms of literary quality. This only stopped when John Culler, the founder of Sporting Classics magazine and the originator of the series, ran into financial trouble and lost the overall operation to Chapter 11. He did continue the reprint series but the reprints no longer featured new material. Another real plus with this offering is that the books are in very fine condition and are a matched number set, with the limitation number being #396 of an edition of 3000. A number of the individual items in this collection now are in high demand. For example, the only copy I could locate on offer for Henry Edwards Davis’s The American Wild Turkey was more than $700, and a number of other volumes had asking prices in the $100 to $300 range. Here’s a chance to own this handsome set, one that would take a great deal of time an effort to acquire volume by volume (and even then you wouldn’t have the matching numbers) at an exceptional price of $3200. The complete set is listed, by author, below, along with some background information. The prices listed are outdated and in many cases too low. Even so, the asking price is appreciably less than what appears below.

The Premier Collection was an outgrowth of the early focus of Sporting Classics magazine. At the outset the books were chosen by an Advisory Committee of four individuals associated with the magazine. Later, when the magazine ran into financial trouble when John Culler was publisher, the venture capitalists who were the money behind Premier Press “pulled” the operation.  This was sometime in late 1989 or 1990. From that point on Jim Casada chose the books, wrote most of the forewords, or when that was not the case selected the person who did write them.

In the list which appears below, it soon becomes obvious that there was not a great deal of consistency in the number of volumes published annually.  The original goal had been four reprints per annum, but financial problems in the form of unpaid printers and binders intervened. Also, it should be noted that in virtually all cases fewer than the stated 3,000 books of the specified limited edition were printed. In some of the later years the print run might not have been more than half that number. This is the case despite some numbers which are much higher, because subscribers to the series got the same number each time. Thus, an individual who started with #2711, for example, would always get that number even if far fewer actual volumes were printed.
It would appear from the information below, and I’m fairly sure it is complete based both on my own holdings and records, that a total of 50 volumes were published in the Premier Classics.

BOOKS ALPHABETICALLY BY AUTHOR

1. TALES OF A BIG GAME GUIDE – RUSSELL ANNABELL $75
2. AFTER BIG GAME IN THE UPPER YUKON – ARMSTRONG $75
3. MY HEALTH IS BETTER IN NOVEMBER – HAVILAH BABCOCK $75
4. GUNNERMAN’S GOLD – HORATIO BIGELOW $100
5. BASS BUG FISHING AND BERMUDA FISHING – JOE BROOKS $75
6. BLOOD  LINES  - NASH BUCKINGHAM $75
7. DE SHOOTINEST GENT’MAN – NASH BUCKINGHAM $75
8. OLE MISS – NASH BUCKINGHAM $75
9. GUNNER’S DAWN – ROLAND CLARK $75
10. STRAY SHOTS AND POT LUCK – ROLAND CLARK $75
11. FISHING A TROUT STREAM – EUGENE CONNETT $75
12. AMERICAN BIG GAME FISHING – EUGENE CONNETT $75
13. RANDOM CASTS – EUGENE CONNETT $75
14. UPLAND GAME BIRD SHOOTING IN AMERICA – E. CONNETT $150
15. WILDFOWLING ON THE MISSISSIPPI FLYWAY – E. CONNETT $100
16. FIFTY YEARS ON THE FRONTIER—JAMES COOK $75
17. WOODCOCK SHOOTING – EDMUND DAVIS $125
18. THE AMERICAN WILD TURKEY – HENRY DAVIS $250
19. CARIBOU SHOOTING IN NEWFOUNDLAND—S. T. DAVIS $75
20. WALL STREET AND THE WILDS – A. W. DIMOCK $75
21. CANADIAN NIGHTS – THE EARL OF DUNRAVEN $75
22. AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING – GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL $75
23. ON THE HEADWATERS OF PEACE RIVER – HAWORTH $75
24. A BOOK ON DUCK SHOOTING – VAN CAMPEN HEILNER $75
25. TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA—AGNES HERBERT $75
26. TO FAR WESTERN ALASKA FOR BIG GAME – T. R. HUBBACK $75
27. TROUT FLIES – PRESTON JENNINGS $75
28. A. B. FROST – HENRY LANIER $75
29. ALASKA BEAR TRAILS—HAROLD McCRACKEN $75 
30. THE WILD TURKEY AND ITS HUNTING -  EDWARD McILHENNY $150
31. CAMP FIRE REMINISCENCES – DAVID MOORE $75
32. ATLANTIC SALMON FISHING – CHARLES PHAIR $125
33. HUNTING TRIPS OF A RANCH MAN – THEODORE ROOSEVELT $75
34. THE WILDERNESS HUNTER – THEODORE ROOSEVELT $75
35. AN AMERICAN HUNTER – ARCHIBALD RUTLEDGE $75
36. HUNTER’S CHOICE—ARCHIBALD RUTLEDGE $75
37. PLANTATION GAME TRAILS – ARCHIBALD RUTLEDGE $75
38. RECENT HUNTING TRIPS IN BRIT. N. AMERICA – F. C. SELOUS $75
39. WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON – CHARLES SHELDON $75
40. THE WILDERNESS OF THE NW PACIFIC COAST IS.—SHELDON $75
41. THE WILDERNESS OF DENALI – CHARLES SHELDON $75
42. TRANQUILLITY – H. P. SHELDON $75
43. TRANQUILITY REVISITED – H. P. SHELDON $75
44. FIRELIGHT – BURTON SPILLER $75
45. GROUSE FEATHERS – BURTON SPILLER $75
46. THOROUGHBRED – BURGON SPILLER $75
47. THE STILL HUNTER – THEODORE VAN DYKE $75
48. UPSTREAM & DOWN -  - HOWARD WALDEN $75
49. ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUND – C. WHITNEY $75
50. ALASKAN YUKON TROPHIES WON AND LOST – G. O. YOUNG $75

BOOKS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE, WITH AUTHOR OF NEW MATERIAL LISTED

1983
Roland Clark, Gunner’s Dawn (Foreword by Paul Rundell)

1984
Havilah Babcock, My Health Is Better in November (Foreword by Lloyd Davis).
Nash Buckingham, De Shootinest Gent’man (Introduction by James A. Casada)
Eugene Connett, Wildfowling the Mississippi Flyway (Foreword by Charles L. Woodard)
Preston Jennings, A Book of Trout Flies (Foreword by Paul Schullery)

1985
Russell Annabel, Tales of a Big Game Guide (Foreword by Ellen Enzler-Herring)
Roland Clark, Stray Shots and Pot Luck (Foreword by Ernest S. Hickcock)
Eugene Connett, Upland Game Bird Shooting (Foreword by George Bird Evans)
Henry W. Lanier, A. B. Frost (Foreword by Charles Woodard)
Charles Phair, Atlantic Salmon Fishing (Foreword by Joseph Wilcox)
Burton Spiller, Firelight (Foreword by E. M. Saniga)
Howard Walden, II, Upstream & Down (Foreword by Paul Schullery)

1986
Nash Buckingham, Ole Miss’ (Introduction by Jim Casada)
Eugene Connett, American Big Game Fishing (Foreword by Jim Casada)
Edmund Davis, Woodcock Shooting (Foreword by George Bird Evans)
E. A. McIlhenny, The Wild Turkey and Its Hunting  (Foreword by John Randolph)
Burton Spiller, Grouse Feathers (Foreword by George Bird Evans)

1987
Eugene Connett, Random Casts (Foreword by Jim Casada)
Theodore Roosevelt, The Wilderness Hunter (Foreword by Jim Casada)
Frederick C. Selous, Recent Hunting Trips in British North America (Introduction by Charles A. Wechsler)
Charles Sheldon, The Wilderness of the Upper Yukon (Foreword by Jim Casada)

1988
Nash Buckingham, Blood Lines (Introduction by Jim Casada)
Henry Edwards Davis, The American Wild Turkey (Introduction by John Randolph)
Theodore Van Dyke, The Still Hunter (Introduction by Rob Wegner)

1990
Horatio Bigelow, Gunnerman’s Gold (Foreword by Jim Casada)
Eugene Connett, Fishing a Trout Stream (Foreword by Paul Schullery)
Theodore Roosevelt, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman (Foreword by John D. Fair)

1991
Archibald Rutledge, An American Hunter (Foreword by Rob Wegner)

1992
Joe Brooks, Bass Bug Fishing and Bermuda Fishing—two books combined (Foreword by Jim Casada)
Van Campen Heilner, A Book on Duck Shooting (Introduction by Jim Casada)
G. O. Young, Alaskan Trophies Won and Lost (Foreword by Jim Casada)
Harold P. Sheldon, Tranquility Revisited (Foreword by Jim Casada)

1993
Archibald Rutledge, Hunter’s Choice (Foreword by Jim Casada)
A.W. Dimock, Wall Street and the Wilds (Foreword by Jim Casada)
Charles Sheldon, The Wilderness of Denali (Introduction by Jim Casada)
Burton Spiller, Thoroughbred (Foreword by Jim Casada)

1994
T. R. Hubback, To Far Western Alaska for Big Game (Introduction by Jim Casada)
Archibald Rutledge, Plantation Game Trails (Foreword by Philip Drennon Thomas)

1995
Nevill Alexander Drummond Armstrong, After Big Game in the Upper Yukon (Foreword by Jared Lobdell)

1996
Paul Leland Haworth, On the Headwaters of the Peace River (no new material)
David Moore Lindsay, Camp-Fire Reminiscences (no new material)

1997
Harold McCracken, Alaska Bear Trails (no new Introduction)
James H. Cook, Fifty Years on the Old Frontier (no new Introduction)
S. T. Davis, Caribou Shooting in Newfoundland (no new Introduction)
Agnes Herbert and A Shikari, Two Dianas in Alaska (no new Introduction)