The Badminton Library

 More Reading For This Time of Darkness

    There is not one book in this library about badminton.  As you may have noticed, I sometimes write about books which are published in a series and this one is known as The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes. It consists of around thirty volumes, most of which were published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It you are a sporting type, this series will be of interest. If you are not, it still may be, since the sports and pastimes of the past were more eclectic and include such things as punting, coursing and falconry. One title in the series: Dancing: A Handbook of the Terpsichorean Arts in Diverse Places and Times, Savage and Civilized. 

   Badminton was the name of the Duke of Beaufort's house and he is associated with the publication of the series. If you are interested in both sports and book collecting, this would be a good place to start. The books abound in various editions, but a sophisticated collector will opt for an elegant edition, such as the one above which was noticed on the Christie's auction site.

   It is the case, however, that many of these books are now available to read via the marvellous invention, the Internet. As the weather worsens and we no longer go outside to participate in sports, we can at least sit inside and read about them. A list of the books is provided below, so you can look them up and buy them on AbeBooks or elsewhere. Also, hints are offered about how to access them for free online. As both events and days turn darker, the readings provided will keep you diverted until at least December, when the 'real' winter begins.

The Bonus:
   For those of you with shorter attention spans, I offer The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes which was published during the years from 1895-1923. The interesting articles found within it, will keep you going for the rest of this year

Here are some samples from the TOCs:

Cycling for Women
North-Country Hunting for Ladies
Bicyling in Barbados
Cycling in the High Alps
Hunting in India
Elephant Hunting in Nepal
Skating Gossip
The Sport of Rajahs (by Baden-Powell)
Otter Hunting With Cycle and Camera

And there is Canadian content:

The Stikine River: The Route to the Klondike
Canoeing for Pleasure and Sport in Canada
A Black Bear Hunt in Northern New Brunswick
Sport on the Prairie (1892) by Viscount Kilcoursie

   Here is what happened to the poor Viscount:

To read the magazine (which is also searchable) see: The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes.

Sources for the Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes

   The Wikipedia entry for the Badminton Library is a good one. It is from that source that I provide the titles. Back in 2008 the Valuable Book Group published a collector's guide and information about it is found on The Wayback Machine in the Internet Archive, which is a marvellous repository for all the things that have been dropped from the Internet.  Have a look at it. Although google abandoned its project to digitize everything, some of these titles were made available and are found on https://books.google.com/. (search by the series title.)

Volume 1: Hunting                                            
Volume 2: Fishing: Salmon & Trout                  
Volume 3: Fishing: Pike & Coarse Fish
Volume 4: Racing & Steeple-Chasing
Volume 5: Shooting: Field & Covert 
Volume 6: Shooting: Moor & Marsh
Volume 7: Cycling
Volume 8: Athletics & Football
Volume 9: Boating
Volume 10: Cricket
Volume 11: Driving
Volume 12: Fencing, Boxing & Wrestling
Volume 13: Golf 
Volume 14: Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Rackets & Fives
Volume 15: Riding & Polo
Volume 16: Mountaineering
Volume 17: Coursing & Falconry 
Volume 18: Skating & Figure Skating
Volume 19: Swimming
Volume 20: Big Game Shooting I
Volume 21: Big Game Shooting II 
Volume 22: Yachting I
Volume 23: Yachting II
Volume 24: Archery
Volume 25: Sea Fishing
Volume 26: Dancing
Volume 27: Billiards
Volume 28: The Poetry of Sport 
Volume 29: Motors & Motor-Driving
Volume 30: Rowing & Punting 
Volume 31: Athletics
Volume 32: Football
Volume 33: Cricket

   For those of you who are old fashioned and who have access to the Western Libraries, some of the above are available in hard copy. For example, there is a copy there of: Dancing : A Handbook of the Terpsichorean Arts in Diverse Places and Times, Savage and Civilized.

If you are interested in such things as these, see also my American Sportsman's Library.