Background:

These prints are from The British Sportsman, a folio by Samuel Howitt (1756-1822), an accomplished British sporting artist.  The subjects of his drawings ranged from well-known activities (e.g. horse racing) to the obscure (bat fowling).

While originally an amateur artist, Howitt turned professional as a means to supplement his income as a drawing master at a private academy in Ealing.  Howitt was married to the sister of the caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson, best known for his Doctor Syntax illustrations.