Duke of Beaufort and Alfred E. T. Watson, eds. THE BADMINTON LIBRARY OF SPORTS AND PASTIMES. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1885-1896. First edition; deluxe (small paper) edition. Uniformly bound in half blue morocco over gilt-stamped orange cloth-covered boards, spine gilt-stamped with raised bands, with marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Marked "Bound by Riviere & Son" on verso of front free endpaper. Includes the following (10) titles: Hunting by the Duke of Beaufort and Mowbray Morris (1885); Athletics and Football by Montague Shearman (1887); Cycling by Viscount Bury and G. Lacy Hillier (1887); Boating by W. B. Woodgate (1888); Driving by the Duke of Beaufort (1889); Golf by Horace G. Hutchinson (1890); Riding by Captain Robert Weir and Polo by J. Moray Brown (1891); Mountaineering by C. T. Dent (1892); Skating by J. M. Heathcote and C. G. Tebbutt and Figure-Skating by T. Maxwell Witham (1892); The Poetry of Sport edited by Hedley Peek (1896). All with half-title, frontispiece, and illustrations.

7 1/2 x 5 3/4 in. each

Private North Carolina Collection

The Badminton Library series, which took its name from the Duke of Beaufort's country estate, included volumes on the major British sports and pastimes. (28) volumes were published between 1885 and 1896, with several volumes added later. This lot of (10) books includes the important anthology on golf.

All with wear to boards including scuffing, staining, rubbed corners, and occasional damp stain or small dent; spines with light chipping and wear at ends, a few with losses at head; joints creased with occasional rubbing and cracking, a couple with loose boards, (2) with cracking at front hinge; Driving with heavier damp staining to boards causing warping; one volume with small area of peeling at turn-in; interiors lightly toned with occasional offsetting, light foxing, small areas of damp staining, and additional minor wear such as creasing or small chips/tears, pages overall very clean; most with small bookseller sticker of "Doidge & Co., Union Street, Plymouth." on rear paste-down; one volume with tissue guard still in place; generally good to very good.