About Us

World Wide Hunting Books sells fine antiquarian big-game hunting books on Africa, Asia, and North America. World Wide Hunting Books issued its first catalog in May 1984; it had a small dark green cover and listed 215 books. The logo was that of a white rhino on a shield. (Our one dog-eared copy of that first catalog is now a collector’s item.)  A year later we established Safari Press;  the first title published by Safari Press was James Mellon’s African Hunter.

From these small beginnings, World Wide Hunting Books and Safari Press have grown exponentially. World Wide Hunting Books now has over two thousand volumes in stock and some 1,000-plus titles.  Both World Wide Hunting Books and Safari Press started in Seal Beach, California, and remained there until 1990 when we moved to a commercial office and warehouse in Huntington Beach.  In 2022 Safari Press was sold, but World Wide Hunting Books remains in our ownership.

World Wide Hunting Books’ stock is mainly antiquarian first editions that are in above-average condition; we have the collector in mind when we buy our books. If you are looking for a rare first edition on elephant hunting or a book on an expedition after wild sheep in Asia that took place over a century ago, you will likely find it in our extensive stock. We have books on tiger, bear, wild sheep, elk, ibex, buffalo, rhino, elephant, and lion hunting. We also have early exploration and hunting accounts from North America, Asia, and Africa.    

Since Safari Press started publishing in 1985, it issued around 350 titles and over 1.4 million copies. Of these, some were published for private distribution only and were never commercially sold, and others were issued in limited and in some cases extremely limited numbers. Most Safari Press titles have long since gone out of print and many of these are now difficult to find and often expensive.  World Wide Hunting Books is the largest dealer in the world of out-of-print Safari Press books; as the former owners of Safari Press, we have a unparalleled knowledge base of all the limited and trade editions that were created by Safari Press over its 35-year history.  World Wide Hunting Books are keepers of the largest and most accurate and detailed archive of Safari Press’ long and illustrious publishing history.  In short, we are Safari Press connoisseurs par excellence.

If it is a book on big-game hunting and if it is out of print, it is likely we have handled the book in our thirty-five-plus years of being in this field. We maintain a detailed, proprietary database with seven thousand-plus entries with bibliographical notes that helps us keep track of the thousands of hunting books ever printed. 

We work with small collectors as well as huge university libraries. We are proud to have helped some of our customers create collections that contain more than one thousand books, but we are equally happy to provide you with that one special book you have always longed for or want to present as a gift.

We issue a catalog five or more times per year, which we also post on our website. All our books are one-of-a-kind, so it is best to call or email if you want to place an order. We take great pride in providing old-fashioned, personal service for our customers.

Sincerely,

Mai Sample   
Msample@sportsafield.com 

Ludo Wurfbain, Librarian in Chief  
publisher@sportsafield.com