About twenty-five years ago, the beginning of the double-gun renaissance began. The Double Gun Journal was a big part of this resurgence. So were Donald Dallas’s books on the famous London gunmakers.
Dallas published his first book — Boss & Co, Builders of Best Guns Only — in 1995. Books about James Purdey & Sons and Holland & Holland followed. While information about all these makers had already been published many times, Dallas’s books were these firms’s definitive histories. His original research corrected many errors and resulted in page after page of new information.
Dallas’s latest book — JOHN DICKSON & SON, THE ROUND ACTION GUNMAKER — does the same. With 352 pages and 447 photographs, this hefty, coffee-table size book tells two amazing stories: One is of John Dickson & Son; the other is of how much love the author has for this firm.
Dallas spent years researching and writing this book, and to get it into print he used his own funds. It is based on hundred of hours of original research, as well as on Dallas’s exclusive access to the maker’s archive and records. Along with the history of the company, readers will also find:
-Full color pictures of some of the finest Dickson firearms to ever be built.
-The ledgers of John Dickson & Son, with information on the 7,000 or so firearms the company built from 1840 – 2010.
-Production figures for Dicksons guns, rifles, and pistols.
-The patents of John Dickson & Son.
-The trade labels used by the company.
-A reprint of two John Dickson & Son catalogs, 1935 & 1962.
– The story of Charles Gordon, The mad Scottish gun Collector and Dickson patron.
The price for all this is just £60 plus postage.
JOHN DICKSON & SON, THE ROUND ACTION GUNMAKER: A stunning, detailed history of John Dickson & Son from 1794 to the present day.
Established in 1838 at 60 Princes Street, Edinburgh, the firm quickly gained a reputation for building very high quality guns and rifles, their two-groove percussion rifles achieving international acclaim. John Dickson (3) made the greatest contribution to the firm by patenting the round action gun in 1880 that instantly achived critical acclaim as a best gun utilising a trigger plate action. The beautiful and elegant three-barrelled gun followed in 1882 and by the time the ejector had been patented in 1887 the Dickson round action had been perfected. In 1923 John Dickson (3) retired and the business was sold. In 1928 the firm moved to 32 Hanover Street and in 1937 to 21 Frederick Street, the present day location of the firm.
This book goes into great detail on all the types of Dickson guns and rifles built and was written with the full permission of John Dickson & Son. 352 pages, 447 photographs.
