BADMINTON LIBRARY.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Swimming. First edition, number 165 of 250 large paper copies. This is the largest of the three formats in which the Badminton Library was issued: large paper, deluxe, and standard trade edition. The Badminton Library - handsomely produced, profusely illustrated and employing the leading authorities of the day - was the preeminent series of sporting books of the late Victorian era.The project was the brainchild of the publishers, Longman, who were themselves a keen sporting family: William had been a founder member of the Alpine Club and C. J. a football blue at Oxford and England archery champion. The chief editor was Henry Somerset, eighth duke of Beaufort (1824-1899), himself from a family of sportsmen, and the name "Badminton Library" was derived from Badminton in Gloucestershire, his principal country residence. He shared editorial duties with Alfred E. T. Watson (1849-1922). The original series consisted of 28 volumes, issued between 1885 and 1896. It "rapidly gained the reputation of being the 'last word' on questions relating to the subjects. Sets of these were an essential component in the libraries of gentlemen's clubs and country houses. Though subsequent works of reference have been as authoritative, none has been as thorough" (Michael Patterson, A Brief History of Life in Victorian Britain: A Social History of Queen Victoria's Reign, 2013).

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