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London : Macmillan & Co., 1904. First edition. Beldam was a first-class cricketer as well as an outstanding photographer and the virtual inventor of the sporting action photograph. This was the first in his series of books depicting the sporting heroes of the day in action. There is careful analysis of the technique revealed by the "instantaneous photography" - with Harry Vardon, J. H. Taylor, James Braid, Alex Herd and Harold H. Hilton providing their own commentary, and Hilton providing analysis of twenty more of the leading players, including John Ball, Horace Hutchinson, Bernard Darwin, etc.
Medium 8vo. xxiv,(482),(4)pp. Photo illustrations throughout. Bound in a smart recent full tan morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; mild spotting of edges; the plate paper of the prelims lightly wrinkled; a few slight marks, but otherwise a very good copy. With the contemporary ownership inscription of Henry B. Weston of Sevenoaks. Donovan & Murdoch 6620.

£400

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London : Duckworth & Co., (1910). First edition. Superbly illustrated with sixty-four plates, many in colour, from water-colours by Harry Rountree (1878-1950). Although Darwin had previously contributed to other publications, this was his first full-length book - and one of the finest golf books ever produced - a countrywide tour of the great courses in their prime. "Thanks to Bernard, golf has acquired the sturdiest literature of any game. The best is Darwin's ... because he showed the writers who came after him how golf could and should be written" (H. W. Wind).
Crown 4to (224 x 177mm). [viii],(254),[ii]pp. Sixty-four plates. Contemporary quarter turquoise morocco, richly banded and gilt in French style; top edge gilt; some very minor wear to joints and hinges; a few scattered spots, but a very good copy. With the book-label of and in the distinctive style of binding favoured by Mme Danaë Vagliano of Cannes, pre-war captain of the French Ladies' Golf Team (after whom the international Vagliano Trophy is named), and the mother of Hélène Vagliano, heroine of the French Resistance. Donovan & Murdoch 14410.

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London : for J. F. & C. Rivington ; T. Payne & Son ; R. Baldwin and others, 1790. An important eighteenth-century edition of Hoyle, revised by Charles Jones - and including for the first time a section on "Goff, or Golf" - "Light Balls are used when playing with the wind, and heavy ones against it". Although compressed into the last few pages of the book, this would appear to be the first extended description of golf in any work of this kind. Also included are sections on cricket (the Star and Garter Rules of 1774), tennis ("a net hangs across the middle"), billiards, etc., as well as whist, chess, backgammon, etc.
Crown 12mo (161 x 91mm). viii,290,[ii]pp. Two plates (billiards). Bound in a robust modern (late twentieth-century) full pigskin; red morocco title label, a few very minor marks; one leaf slightly nicked, but a very good, clean, crisp and attractive copy. Donovan & Murdoch 330. ESTC T87522.

£400

To confirm availability and to purchase this print please note the stock number 25866 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Longmans, Green & Co., 1912. First edition. Hutchinson, the first official amateur champion in 1886, covers all apsects of the game - with additional essays by Bernard Darwin, May Hezlet Ross and others.
Crown 8vo. (xii),(362),[ii]pp. Fifty-two photo plates - all the shots displayed by the leading players of the day. Original enamelled cloth in an attractive pictorial design; a touch bruised; endpapers tanned; mild spotting of edges, etc., but a very good copy. Donovan & Murdoch 22020.

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