EGAN, Pierce.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Boxiana; or, Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism; First editions; the superbly illustrated and complete original series of this cornerstone of any library of pugilism, together with the later plate volume of circa 1840. "The publication of Boxiana brought Egan immediate notoriety... His evocative style, reproducing the slang of the boxing community, made the books immensely popular" (Chill, p. 219).Pierce Egan (1772-1849) was one of the most picturesque figures of Regency London and "virtually create[d] modern sporting journalism... His descriptions of fights were full of graphic action and high drama, more bloody, it was said, than the fights themselves. He was always prepared to embellish the truth in the interests of entertainment, especially where one of the subjects was Irish and so merited particular praise [Egan claimed Irish ancestry]. Jack Randall, for instance, was always 'the prime Irish lad', although the boxer himself never claimed to be other than a Londoner. Egan's language grew steadily more and more extravagant, larded with slang terms and exaggerations that catered for 'the Fancy' but never so specialized as to exclude others totally. Egan plunged into the language of the street and the tavern, embellishing it unashamedly and giving it an immediacy and vitality, which, however spurious, brought to his avid readers a sense of connection with life's great excitements. A simple blow to the eye that drew blood became 'the left peeper of Perkins napt it, and

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