ALKEN, Henry. Miniature Sporting Prints. [London: ca. 1827]. A group of 8 hand-coloured etched plates, all but one window-mounted (78 x 135mm; 145 x 203mm. with mounts). (No visible margins.) Preserved in green buckram chemise and matching quarter green morocco clamshell case by the Lakeside Press, Chicago, spine with two sporting tools and longitudinal title lettering between two raised bands (spine chipped with loss to lettering and one tool). UNUSUAL SMALL SCALE SPORTING PRINTS. Two show coaching scenes, one a horse fair, one fox hunters, another a man out shooting, and the final two baiting sports watched by top-hatted men who all look slightly disreputable. The unmounted print shows oriental cavalry and appears to have been removed from an album. The title above is taken from the case which reads: ‘Miniature Sporting Prints by Henry Alken (circa 1827).’ [With:] Three original drawings executed for Alken's panorama The Progress of Human Life (London, 1820), signed H. Alken, 57 x 135 mm; 57 x 112mm; 57 x 53mm., window-mounted and preserved in quarter brown morocco case. Provenance: purchased from Spencer, London, 15 July 1937. The tiny scenes of a street party, a family at dinner and the interior of a shop show excellent draftsmanship on the smallest of scales.