The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England

"The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England" by Joseph Strutt. 1876; Chatto and Windus; London. The book is nicely illustrated "by one hundred and forty engravings, from ancient manuscripts." Included are "rural and domestic recreations, may games, mummeries, shows, processions, pageants, and pompous spectacles, from the earliest period to the present time."

Here are a few examples of the contents: Jugglers, Kissing Dance, Archery, Goff (golf), Discus, Bull Running, Combats with Axes, Bowling, Chess, Devil's Dance, Cricket, Draughts (checkers), Cribbage, Wind Ball, Yawning Match, Wire Dancing, Quadrille, Wrestling, Slinging Stones, Olympic Games, Pantomimes, Minstrels, Hawking, Ice Sliding, Duck Hunting, Frying Pan Music...and much more.

Condition:
Rebound with modern hardcovers. Lacks frontispiece. Both covers have a rectangular tanned area over most of the cloth. Cloth tear at the bottom edge of the spine. Tight binding with no loose pages. There is a minor crack at the front hinge between the end paper and half title page resulting in the front cover being just a bit shaky. The back cover is firmly attached. The pages are lightly age-toned, though not brittle. The upper-outer corner of page 219 has torn away; a dime-sized piece has torn away at the outer edge of page 169...in both instances, the text is unaffected. Within pages 87-97, occasional lines of text have been underlined very lightly in pencil (the underlines could easily be erased if desired). Name/date (1913) written in pencil on the half title page. "1801" is written in pencil below the author's name on the title page. Overall the book is in Good condition.