The Complete Sportsman: A Manual of Scientific and Practical Knowledge Designed for the Instruction and Information of All Votaries of the Gun (1893)

Nothing can be learned about Gasper’s life from the major biographies and bibliographies. Apparently The Complete Sportsman is his only book. Fully titled The Complete Sportsman, A Manual of Scientific and Practical Knowledge Designed for the Instruction and Information of All Votaries of the Gun, the opus is one of the better how to hunting guides written towards the end of the 19th century. At the time, the sport hunting of North American game was a favorite, growing avocation for many. However, many new adherents lived in the growing cities and towns of the east and midwest and they had relatively little insight into rural conditions. Also, the tentacles of the rail had probed far and wide, making travel to distant places easy, rapid, and economical. Many neophyte sportsmen were similarly unfamiliar with the identification, distribution, abundance, migration, and habits of huntable species potentially available to them. Meanwhile, enormous improvements were being made in guns, ammunition, boats, other hunting equipment and accessories, and clothing. Also, many potential sportsman were unfamiliar with the most successful and enjoyable hunting strategies available.–Henry M. Reeves.