With all due humility, I thought I'd share Vic Venter's assessment of Birth of The Boxlock. He's Senior Editor of Shooting Sportsman. This, from another board:
"I have just received a copy of the new book Birth of the Boxlock Shotgun, by John Campbell. See here:
https://gunandswordcollector.com/pro...xlock-shotgun/
Mr Campbell is a contributor to this BBS as "Kensal Rise" and was the editor and publisher of the mid-2000s digital publication Double Gun Classics, and is today a frequent contributor to The Double Gun Journal.
The gun writing trade -- like the British gun trade -- is (unfortunately) a jealous, thin-skinned trade, with members often loath to say much good about the work of their fellows in trade.
Kudos, though, to Mr Campbell for producing an extensively researched, well-illustrated, and very interesting book. He has thoroughly mined period trade periodicals, as well as much-relied-upon secondary sources; moreover, crucially, he has gained access to the very thorough research of the descendants of William Anson, of Anson & Deeley fame.
He knows well how to string a sentence together, as is said in the editing business, and how to make a compelling argument.
Fans of the A&D boxlock -- as well as those of late 19th-Century American doubles -- will find much to enjoy.
A fine job, Kensal Rise."
I humbly thank Mr. Venters for his most kind words.