This is a follow-up to last weeks bibliography of handgun hunting books:
7) The Complete Book of Modern Handgunning, apparently edited and to some degree written by Jeff Cooper, but largely written by unattributed authors. This book came to my attention in Al Goerg's Pioneering Handgun Hunting. Goerg complained mildly that Cooper had effectively plagiarized his work by including it unattributed in a book on handgun hunting. At the time I thought it was just sour grapes of some kind, but-- by gadfry!-- Goerg was right. Cooper did use articles written by Al Goerg, Elmer Keith, Charles Waterman, and others without crediting them by name for the work. It was only through the style and other hints in the text that I could tell who the actual authors were. Call it plagiarism, or just sloppy editing, it's a higly unacceptable practice. Cooper does claim, in the preface, that some of the book was written by others, but does not tell which parts were written by others. He goes on to refer to himself as "the author" in several places, and in the picture captions.
Scandalous revelations aside, the book has some really great articles that the historically minded handgun hunter will find worthwhile. Fascinating details of the development of the 454 Casull are given. Early work on scoping the handgun is covered. The attitudes of the day toward handgun hunting-- including the relevant laws of the day-- are covered. The impression I got from reading it was that the 44 magnum legitimized handgun hunting and that the world was just beginning to see the new opportunities afforded by handgun hunting. We knew that, but it was good to see it in terms of the day. An interesting comparison between archery and handgun hunting is given. The book was written in about 1961 and is still available used.
Here's last week's stuff for reference....
Blunderbus:
These are the books that I'm aware of:
1) Hunting for Handgunners by Jones and Kelly has some good articles about the history of handgun hunting since about 1955. Very authoritative and informative. Still in print. A good picture book.
2) Pioneering Handgun Hunting by Goerg. Out of print since 1965 but can still be found occasionally through used book sellers. It won't be cheap. These are the personal accounts of the top pioneer in handgun hunting -- Keith notwithstanding. He pioneered the use of scopes and built himself a Contender before Contenders existed. Keith pioneered the 44 magnum and some hunting loads, but Goerg pioneered the techniques we use today. There's a chapter on Goerg in Hunting for Handgunners.
3) Successful Handgun Hunting by Johnston. Has a section on the history of handgun hunting. Out of print. Still easy to get at a decent price. If you can only get two of the books, get this one and Hunting for Handgunners.
4) Sixguns, by Keith. Great book. One chapter is on hunting and his pioneering use of the 44 special. Rest of book is on other uses of handguns, principally revolvers. Fun to read. Availiable in paperback in current publication.
5) Handgun Hunting, by Nonte and Jurras. Hopelessly outdated. Lots of bad advice. Not worth reading. Out of print.
6) Handgun Hunting, by Hampton. Dull and uninformative personal accounts of what were probably interesting hunts. Not worth reading. In current publication.
