{{Short description|Series of non-fiction books}} {{italic title}} {{EngvarB|date=March 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}} [[File:Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Rackets, Fives.jpg|thumb|''Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Rackets, Fives'' (1890), standard trade edition, decorated brown cloth cover]]
The '''''Badminton Library''''', called in full '''''The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes''''', was a sporting and publishing project conceived by Longmans Green & Co. and edited by [[Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort]] (1824–1899). Between 1885 and 1902 it developed into a series of sporting books which aimed to cover comprehensively all major sports and [[hobby|pastimes]]. The books were published in London by [[Longmans, Green & Co.]]<ref name=wychwood>[http://www.wychwoodbooks.com/categories.php?subject=16 Badminton Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090213071734/http://www.wychwoodbooks.com/categories.php?subject=16 |date=13 February 2009 }} at wychwoodbooks.com (accessed 3 April 2008)</ref> and in [[Boston]] by [[Little, Brown & Co.]]
The series was dedicated to [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales]], "one of the best and keenest sportsmen of our time".<ref name=staffs>[http://www.staffs.ac.uk/uniservices/infoservices/library/about/collections/special/badminton/index.php Badminton Collection – Special Collection (SPC.10)] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20071214172917/http://www.staffs.ac.uk/uniservices/infoservices/library/about/collections/special/badminton/index.php |date=14 December 2007 }} online at staffs.ac.uk (accessed 3 April 2008)</ref><ref name="Illinois">[http://www.library.uiuc.edu/rbx/exhibitions/Victorian%20Entertainments/catalog/catalog.html Victorian Entertainments: We Are Amused An Exhibit Illustrating Victorian Entertainment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070515221619/http://www.library.uiuc.edu/rbx/exhibitions/Victorian%20Entertainments/catalog/catalog.html |date=15 May 2007 }} at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the [[University of Illinois]] (Item 31: Golf in 1890, Item 32: Skating in 1892, Item 33: Cricket in 1888, Item 34: Cycling in 1887) online at library.uiuc.edu (accessed 3 April 2008)</ref>
==Editor== The founder of the Library, the Duke of Beaufort, acted as its overseeing editor, assisted by Alfred E. T. Watson,<ref name=staffs/> and chose authors who were authorities in their fields. Explaining his purpose, the Duke said:<ref name=wychwood/> {{cquote|...there is no modern encyclopaedia to which the inexperienced man, who seeks guidance in the practice of various British sports and pastimes, can turn for information".}}
==Description== The ''Badminton Library'' was originally published in twenty-eight volumes between 1885 and 1896. To these was later added ''Rowing & Punting'' (1898), superseding ''Boating'' (1888). New volumes for ''Athletics'' (1898) and ''Football'' (1899) supplemented the original ''Athletics and Football'' (1887). In 1902, the final entirely new volume, ''Motors and Motor-Driving'', covered a new sport, and lastly there was a new edition of ''Cricket'' in 1920.<ref name=wychwood/>
On the combining of athletics and football in a single volume, Mike Huggins says in ''The Victorians and Sport'' (2004) that it suggests "...that football's leading place was not yet assured amongst the more literate reading public."<ref>Huggins, Mike, ''The Victorians and Sport'' (London, [[Continuum International Publishing Group]], 2004, {{ISBN|1-85285-415-4}}) p. 11</ref>
The original volume on ''Cricket'' (1888) has sixteen chapters on topics such as 'Batting', 'Bowling', 'Fielding', and 'Umpires'. It defines the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] as "The Parliament of Cricket" and describes the sport as "Our National Game".<ref name=Illinois/> [[Allan Gibson Steel]] wrote the chapter on bowling.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/133901.html | title=Allan Gibson Steel – A tribute | journal=[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]] | year=1915}}</ref>
''Cycling'' (1887), by [[William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle|Viscount Bury]], notes that riding the [[tricycle]] and bicycle, whether by women or by men, "is by far the most recent of all sports in the Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes. There is none which has developed more rapidly in the last few years." It considers that "England may be looked upon as the Home of Cycling" and quotes [[Thomas Huxley]]'s words to the [[Royal Society]]: "Since the time of [[Achilles]], no improvement had added anything to the speed or strength attainable by the unassisted powers of man", commenting that a bicyclist had recently raced 146 miles in only ten hours.<ref name=Illinois/>
''Skating'' (1892) deals first with 'Origins and Development', '[[Figure skating]]', and 'Recreation and Racing', noting that [[Holland]] was "the Skater's Paradise" and giving a list of racing records since the 1820s, then continues with chapters on [[Curling]], [[Toboggan]]ing, [[Sailing|Ice-Sailing]] and [[Bandy]].<ref name=Illinois/> <ref name=heathc>{{cite book |title=Skating |url=https://archive.org/details/skatingfiguresk00heatgoog |year=1892 |last1=Heathcote|first1=J.M.|authorlink1=John Moyer Heathcote |last2=Tebbutt |first2=C.G.|authorlink2=Charles Goodman Tebbutt |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co. |ol=7132924M }}</ref>
Laura and Guy Waterman's ''Yankee Rock & Ice'' (2002) calls the Badminton Library "a quaint turn-of-the-century British series",<ref>Waterman, Laura, Waterman, Guy, & Lewis, S. Peter, ''Yankee Rock & Ice: A History of Climbing in the Northeastern United States'' ([[Stackpole Books]], 2002, {{ISBN|0-8117-3103-0}}) [https://books.google.com/books?id=3LtZKlCrK5gC&dq=%22Badminton%22&pg=PA16 page 16] online at books.google.co.uk (accessed 3 April 2008)</ref> while a review of the publication ''Collectors Guide to the Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes'' says of the books:<ref>[http://www.serious-collector.com/wst_page2.html review of Badminton Library Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315195625/http://serious-collector.com/wst_page2.html |date=15 March 2008 }} online at serious-collector.com (accessed 3 April 2008)</ref> {{cquote|If the series were to be issued today it might more appropriately be called ''Sports and Pastimes for the [[British nobility|British Aristocrat]]'' to more accurately reflect its content.}}
Two useful series for purposes of comparison are the slightly later ''[[American Sportsman's Library]]'' and the ''Lonsdale Library of Sports, Games and Pastimes'' ([[Seeley, Service|Seeley, Service & Co.]]).<ref>[https://www.publishinghistory.com/lonsdale-library-seeley-service.html The Lonsdale Library (Seeley, Service & Co.) - Book Series List], publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 4 April 2019.</ref>
==Editions== The ''Badminton Library'' was published in three different formats:<ref name=wychwood/>
#The '''standard trade edition''': [[octavo (book)|octavo]], bound in brown illustrated cloth. #The '''deluxe edition''': octavo, bound in half blue Morocco, gilt titles to the spines and bright orange boards with a gilt coat of arms to the upper board, top page edges gilt. #The '''large paper deluxe edition''': large octavo or [[quarto]], a limited edition of only two hundred and fifty copies, also bound in half blue Morocco and much the same in appearance as the deluxe edition.
==Name== The name 'Badminton Library' was derived from that of Duke of Beaufort's principal [[English country house|country house]], [[Badminton House|Badminton]] in Gloucestershire. There is no volume in the series on the sport of Badminton, named after the same house.<ref name=wychwood/>
==Bibliography== [[File:William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle.png|thumb|[[William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle|Viscount Bury]], author of ''Cycling'' (1887), caricatured in 1875 by [[Carlo Pellegrini (caricaturist)|Carlo Pellegrini]] ]]
*Volume 1: ''Hunting'' (1885, by the Duke of Beaufort & Mowbray Morris, with contributions by the [[Earl of Suffolk|18th Earl of Suffolk, 11th of Berkshire]], the Rev. E. W. L. Davies, Digby Collins, Alfred Watson, Sir Marteine Lloyd, George Longman and J.T. Gibbons) *Volume 2: ''Fishing: Salmon & Trout'' (1885, 1st of 2 volumes) *Volume 3: ''Fishing: Pike & Coarse Fish'' (1885, by H. Cholmondeley-Pennel, with contributions from other authors) *Volume 4: ''Racing & Steeple-Chasing'' (1886, ''Racing'' by the 18th Earl of Suffolk & W. G. Craven, with a contribution by F. Lawley, ''Steeple-Chasing'' by Arthur Coventry & Alfred E. T. Watson) *Volume 5: ''Shooting: Field & Covert'' (1886, 1st of 2 volumes) *Volume 6: ''Shooting: Moor & Marsh'' (1886, by [[Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham]] and Sir [[Ralph Payne-Gallwey]]) *Volume 7: ''Cycling'' (1887, by [[William Keppel, 7th Earl of Albemarle|William Coutts Keppel, Viscount Bury]], later [[Earl of Albemarle]])<ref name=Illinois/> and [[George Lacy Hillier]]<ref>{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/cycling00albegoog | quote = bibliogroup:Badminton library of sports and pastimes. | title = ''Cycling'' | publisher = Longmans, Green, and Co. (Internet Archive) | date = 1887 | accessdate = 3 September 2013}}</ref> *Volume 8: ''Athletics & Football'' (1887, by [[Montague Shearman]]) *Volume 9: ''Boating'' (1888, by [[Walter Bradford Woodgate]])<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/boatingb00woodrich#page/n7/mode/2up W B WOodgate ''Boating'']</ref> *Volume 10: ''Cricket'' (1888, by [[Allan Gibson Steel]])<ref name=Illinois/> *Volume 11: ''Driving'' (1889, by the Duke of Beaufort) *Volume 12: ''Fencing, Boxing & Wrestling'' (1889, ''Fencing'' by [[Walter Herries Pollock|Walter H. Pollock]], F. C. Grove & Camille Prevost, with a complete bibliography of the art by [[Egerton Castle]], ''Boxing'' by [[Edward Michell|E. B. Michell]], ''Wrestling'' by [[Walter Armstrong (art historian)|Walter Armstrong]]) *Volume 13: ''Golf'' (1890, by [[Horace Hutchinson|Horace G. Hutchinson]], with a chapter on 'The Humours of Golf' by the future prime minister [[Arthur Balfour|Arthur James Balfour]] and with contributions by [[Baron Moncreiff|Lord Wellwood]], [[Andrew Lang]], Sir Walter Simpson, [[H. S. C. Everard]] and others, illustrated by [[Harry Furniss]] and Thomas Hodge)<ref name=Illinois/> *Volume 14: ''Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Rackets & Fives'' (1890, by [[John Moyer Heathcote]], with contributions by [[Arthur Lyttelton|A. Lyttelton]], W. C. Marshall, and others)<ref>[http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/hist/tennis/court.html Court Tennis in the 19th Century] at sc.edu (accessed 3 April 2008)</ref> *Volume 15: ''Riding & Polo'' (1891, ''Riding'' edited by Captain Robert Weir, ''Polo'' by J. Moray Brown) *Volume 16: ''Mountaineering'' (1892, edited by [[Clinton Thomas Dent]]) *Volume 17: ''Coursing & Falconry'' (1892) *Volume 18: ''Skating & Figure Skating'' (1892, by [[John Moyer Heathcote]] and [[Charles Goodman Tebbutt]], illustrated with photographs and with [[wood-engraving]]s by Charles Whymper (1853–1941) )<ref name=Illinois/><ref name=heathc/> *Volume 19: ''Swimming'' (1893, by [[Archibald Sinclair (journalist)|Archibald Sinclair]] and [[William Henry (swimmer)|William Henry]]) *Volume 20: ''Big Game Shooting I'' (1894, 1st of 2 volumes) *Volume 21: ''Big Game Shooting II'' (1894, edited by [[Clive Phillipps-Wolley]]) *Volume 22: ''Yachting I'' (1894, by Sir Edward Sullivan) *Volume 23: ''Yachting II'' (1894) *Volume 24: ''Archery'' (1894) *Volume 25: ''Sea Fishing'' (1895) *Volume 26: ''Dancing'' (1895, by Mrs Lilly Grove [[Royal Geographical Society|FRGS]] and others) *Volume 27: ''Billiards'' (1896, edited by Major William Broadfoot) *Volume 28: ''The Poetry of Sport'' (1896, ed. Hedley Peek) *Volume 29: ''Motors & Motor-Driving'' (1902) *Volume 30: ''Rowing & Punting'' (1898, ''Rowing'' by Reginald Percy Pfeiffer Rowe and [[Charles Murray Pitman]] with contributions by C. P. Serocold, F. C. Begg & S. Le B. Smith, ''Punting'' by Peter Wyatt Squire) *Volume 31: ''Athletics'' (1898) *Volume 32: ''Football'' (1899) *Volume 33: ''Cricket'' (1920)
==In fiction== [[J. K. Stanford]]'s fictional game shot [[George Hysteron-Proteron]] was said to have been educated at [[Eton College|Eton]], the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst|Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], and the ''Badminton Library''.<ref>[[J. K. Stanford|Stanford, J. K.]], ''The Twelfth and After'' (London, 1964), p. 12</ref>
== See also == * ''[[The Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes]]''
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
== External links == {{wikisource|The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080315195625/http://www.serious-collector.com/wst_page2.html Collectors Guide to the ''Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes''] * [https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=bibliogroup:%22Badminton+Library+of+Sports+and+Pastimes%22&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=7&gws_rd=ssl#q=intitle:%22Badminton+Library+of+Sports+and+Pastimes%22&tbm=bks&tbs=bkv:r ''Badminton Library'' on Google Books] * [https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28badminton%20library%29 ''Badminton Library'' on the Internet Archive] * [[Spalding (company)|Spalding Athletic Library books on Badminton, late 1800s]]
[[Category:19th-century books]] [[Category:20th-century books]] [[Category:Books about sports]]