Beschreibung:

ARCHER, Fred (1857-1886) -- [Sam. H. BROOKES.] The Three Archers with a Memoir of Fred Archer ... by a Cheltonian . Cheltenham and London: S.H. Brookes, [1887]. 2 frontispiece portraits, plate of Fred Archer's memorial stone, text illustration of Archer's home. Original cloth-backed printed red boards. Housed with a copy of the undated [1885] first edition in clamshell case by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Provenance : a contemporary hand has amended 'Second Edition' on the front cover to read 'Third Edition -- 5th Thousand', and supplied the name of the author (also the publisher of this anonymous work) -- T.H. Packer (contemporary signature on flyleaf). Fred Archer (1857-1886) was one of the first national sporting stars. Son of William, winner of the 1858 Grand National, he became a champion jockey at the age of 17; his brother, Charlie, was a good jockey too. This second edition of the biographies or 'autobiographies' of the three Archers has been considerably revised and enlarged to incorporate the shocking news of Fred's suicide in 1886, the consequence of a broken heart and ill-health. The annotator of this copy appears to believe it had passed from a second into a third edition with a total of 5000 copies published of all editions. Whatever the case, the second edition, perhaps because it was much more private in circulation, is today a very rare in memoriam piece to the nation's greatest jockey. Not listed in WorldCat or Copac. (2)