SPORTS AND PASTIMES.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Badminton Library. A smartly presented set of the full series, including the additional Motors and Motor Driving volume. Conceived as the first comprehensive encyclopaedia of pastimes enjoyed by the modern British gentleman and gentlewoman, the highly successful Badminton Library took its name from the estate of the Duke of Beaufort, who edited the series.Various other peers contributed volumes, such as Lord Walsingham, who authored Shooting, and the Earl of Suffolk, who wrote Racing and Steeplechasing. The first volume, Hunting (1885), was dedicated to the Prince of Wales. These upper-class credentials were integral to the original conception of the series, but it was assumed that the Duke of Beaufort's contribution "would be purely nominal" (Campbell, p. 128). As it was, the 8th Duke was an enthusiastic and highly active participant in the project.

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