News — Jim Corbett

On an April evening in 1930, in the hills of northern India, a man eased down a narrow ravine — a clutch of nightjar eggs carried with care, a rifle at the ready. He stepped clear of a great slab of rock, looked back over his right shoulder — and straight into the face of a man-eating tigress.

The rifle lay across his chest, pointing away from her. To bring it to bear, the muzzle would have to travel three-quarters of a circle. One-handed. So slowly that the movement itself could not be seen.

The man was Jim Corbett — and those few seconds have been argued over for ninety years. At the centre of the argument stands one particular rifle, with a number in a London gunmaker’s ledger, and a silver plaque engraved with the wrong initials.

But this is not the story of that rifle. It is the story of all of them.

The Rose & Scroll Fine Gun Journal presents… Jim Corbett’s Gun Cabinet: A Life in Steel...

Watch the video here or on YouTube or the Rose and Scroll website. If you enjoy it, you can read in detail about the life and legacy of Jim Corbett in Ian Douglas new book, Undiscovered Corbett. 

Prosenjit Dasgupta reviews Undiscovered Corbett by Ian Douglas

“Undiscovered Corbett” by Ian Douglas is a notable contribution to popular knowledge about Jim Corbett, that renowned hunter of man-eating tigers in Kumaon in early 20th century and the widely-read author of stories of Indian wildlife. No doubt there have been earlier books on Corbett, but Douglas has broken new ground in providing many more interesting details about Corbett’s life and times with the Bengal and North-Western Railways at Mokameh Ghat, as in-charge of a Labour Corps in World War I and later in Waziristan. Of particular interest is the reproduction of letters written by Corbett to Maggie, his elder sister and to others, as well as press reports, which serve to corroborate the hair-raising experiences of Corbett in pursuing man-eaters such as the Chowgarh maneater and the Thank man-eater. Douglas’ narration of his simulation of a one-handed handling of the .275 Rigby rifle as Corbett had done in shooting the Chowgarh tigress is most interesting. The book provides useful information about Corbett’s role in training troops for jungle warfare during World War II as also about Corbett’s assistance in organizing hunts for Lord Linlithgow (Viceroy of India, 1937 to 1943) and his family. The photographs and personal notes by Lady Doreen Hope (daughter of the Viceroy) in the book provide important pointers to Corbett’s personality and jungle skills. The book has the benefit of many new, hitherto unpublished photographs that Douglas was able to obtain from the Corbett’s Archives available with the Oxford University Press, who were the publishers of Corbett’s books, as well as from members of the Linlithgow family and others. Well-annotated and attractively produced, “Undiscovered Corbett” should be a welcome read to fans of Corbett’s hunting tales.

Published today! Undiscovered Corbett by Ian Douglas. Reviewed on the Country Life Magazine book pages by Jamie Blackett. 'Undiscovered Corbett does sterling work in drawing attention to a great man.'

Available via Merlin Unwin Books or local bookshops.