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Details
[ROBERT LUKIN]
A Treatise on Tennis. London: Rodwell and Martin, 1822. 8vo. (22.1 x 13.6cm), viii 120p, folding lithographed court plan, with half-title (some spotting, browning of page edges), UNCUT in original boards (spine lacking, covers detached, corners bumped). Provenance: J.W. Rimmington Wilson (signature on front pastedown). Exhibited: The Queen's Club, 2004, no. 308.
FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST ENGLISH BOOK ENTIRELY ON TENNIS, published at a period of revival in the game's fortunes. Lukin was secretary of the tennis club formed at James Street, Haymarket, about 1820. "The antiquity of the game" and "Its preference to cricket" are the subject of his two opening chapters. However, his treatise is principally a manual on how to play, ending with remarks on "Patience, perseverance and good temper -- their importance". The appendix includes the rules of the game as observed in London courts and betting odds. The number of copies in private hands is thought to be extremely few (see "publisher's note" by Chris Ronaldson to the 1991 facsimile edition), and no copy is recorded at auction by ABPC for at least thirty years. Rimmington Wilson, the owner of this copy, was a noted English collector of books on sports and games including chess and cricket. Garnett p. 292; Henderson p. 189.
A Treatise on Tennis. London: Rodwell and Martin, 1822. 8vo. (22.1 x 13.6cm), viii 120p, folding lithographed court plan, with half-title (some spotting, browning of page edges), UNCUT in original boards (spine lacking, covers detached, corners bumped). Provenance: J.W. Rimmington Wilson (signature on front pastedown). Exhibited: The Queen's Club, 2004, no. 308.
FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST ENGLISH BOOK ENTIRELY ON TENNIS, published at a period of revival in the game's fortunes. Lukin was secretary of the tennis club formed at James Street, Haymarket, about 1820. "The antiquity of the game" and "Its preference to cricket" are the subject of his two opening chapters. However, his treatise is principally a manual on how to play, ending with remarks on "Patience, perseverance and good temper -- their importance". The appendix includes the rules of the game as observed in London courts and betting odds. The number of copies in private hands is thought to be extremely few (see "publisher's note" by Chris Ronaldson to the 1991 facsimile edition), and no copy is recorded at auction by ABPC for at least thirty years. Rimmington Wilson, the owner of this copy, was a noted English collector of books on sports and games including chess and cricket. Garnett p. 292; Henderson p. 189.
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