Copyright
1911, by William Heinemann All rights reserved.
W7898642 RIES LAMBETH HPUBL PREFACE The editors of the original edition of the Encyclopædia of Sport attempted to bring together the information essential to the different sports and games which constitute the pastimes of civilised man. The word "sport" had then-only ten years ago a far narrower meaning than is given to it to-day and the editors included with some hesitation an article even on bicycling. To-day artificial locomotion on land and in the air has made such giant strides and become so much a subject of competition and emulation that there cannot be any further doubt of its proper place in an Encyclopædia of Sport. The rivalry of nations and of individuals, first on the track and then in the air, bids fair to outstrip in interest even such hallowed favourites as horse-racing, cricket, and football.
In preparing a new edition of the Encyclopædia of Sport, therefore, it was not sufficient to bring up to date the records and developments of the old games and sports, but it was necessary to add so many new subjects that the present (second) edition is not only new and revised, but has become almost a new book, with a wider scope and a larger appeal. Every article has been most carefully revised, and many new ones are added by such experts as Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, W. Baxendale, F. B. Cooke, H. A. Bryden, H. Hesketh Prichard, A. E. Shipley, Montague Shearman, J. E. Harting, B. J. T. Bosanquet, &c.
This edition is new, not only in its contents, but also in its form. The ten years which have intervened since the first appearance of the Encyclopædia of Sport have seen extraordinary developments in the arts of illustration and reproduction. For all sports instantaneous photography is the most suitable method of illustration. The cricketer is caught in the act of making a brilliant catch or driving a ball to the boundary. The golfer is shown in the very act of swinging his club; whilst the football player, the athlete, the sprinter, the runner of Marathon endurance, the jumper, the diver, &c., &c., are caught at the most characteristic moment. And if the camera has dogged man in all his exercises, so also has it hunted down animals, right into the jungle. By flashlight lions are caught in the act of pouncing on their prey at night time; shy beasts, like the antelope and the zebra, are shown grazing or drinking quietly at a pool; and the furious rhinoceros is photographed as he charges the intrepid artist.
A further great improvement of this present edition over the old one is the addition of coloured plates-the reproduction of feather and fur, of beast and fowl, as it is effected by such artists as Caldwell and Archibald Thorburn, or by photographs coloured by experts from living specimens. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION LOVERS of Sport cannot complain that in recent years their interests have been neglected by English publishers; but, although books devoted to the consideration of Sport continue to multiply apace, no serious effort has been made to produce a national Encyclopædia of Sport. Many editions of Blaine's Encyclopædia of Rural Sports, which first appeared in 1840, were published down to 1870. Blaine announced that he proposed to describe "the progress of each sport to its present state of perfection," and he acquitted himself creditably. The book was very useful in its day, but its day is past.
Football was so slightly regarded when Blaine's work appeared that he actually makes no mention of a game which is now among the most popular of our recreations. Some sports, Cricket for example, have been completely revolutionised during the last fifty years; and others, Badger-baiting and the like, described by Blaine, have disappeared from the catalogue of national amusements, and are here relegated to the article on Obsolete Sport.
Blaine's predecessor, Strutt, published in 1801 The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, which was frequently reprinted. This valuable and entertaining book, a mine of antiquarian lore, has no pretension to the name of Encyclopædia, though Strutt pursues his investigations even to the chronicling of "the obsolete sports of the young," as deduced from old engravings. Among these obsolete sports one is surprised to find games resembling "Blind Man's Buff" and "Leapfrog"; though, as the latter is apparently being played by monks and nuns, the monks giving the back, Leapfrog in that particular form may fairly be reckoned among obsolete sports.
Strutt, and to a large extent Blaine, worked single-handed; but it is obvious that if an attempt is to be made to cover the whole range of sport, scores of experts must collaborate. The Editor is glad to say that, in answer to his appeal, the leading authorities on every branch of sport have placed their services at his disposal. In not a few cases, indeed, men who have never before published any portion of their complete and carefully acquired knowledge have been prevailed on to break through their habit of silence in favour of this work. Even the less important and unsigned articles have been submitted to insure all possible accuracy of detail to the careful revision and scrutiny of experts. The scope of the present work is very wide, and includes many articles on subjects which, though not in themselves sport, are certainly its corollaries. Such are, for instance, "First Aid," "Taxidermy," and "Veterinary Work."
Of the first-named some knowledge should be in possession of all who take part in sport of any kind; for what sport worthy of the name is free from danger? It is not too much to say that very slight surgical skill on the part of a servant would have prevented a fatal termination to one of the most deplorable of recent accidents on the hill.
Of Taxidermy every big-game hunter, be his object science or sport, should have at least such elementary knowledge as shall insure the preservation of specimen or trophy in presentable condition. And of the perpetual use of Veterinary work there can be no need to remind sportsmen. Nor has natural history been neglected, though made subservient to sport throughout. The plan of publication in parts has been adopted in the confident expectation that those who buy the earlier numbers will never rest satisfied without the complete series. The acquisition of a full-blown Encyclopædia is seldom undertaken without the misgiving born of a dread of satiety. It may at all events be urged that this method of publication has the advantage of affording to wellwishers of Sport an opportunity of giving us the benefit of suggestions in time to correct errors or repair omissions in future numbers. Who can tell that we may not with such assistance expand in due time to the dimensions of the Dictionary of National Biography! In these volumes, without any sacrifice of accuracy or technical detail, a lighter style than is usual in works of this description has been permitted, so as to render the monthly issue to the full as attractive as any of the most popular magazines. It will be allowed that the menu thus offered to the public is, at any rate, not lacking in variety.
The glossaries under each subject must be claimed as something of a new departure, though, of course, the facilities for reference must necessarily remain incomplete until the publication of the Index with the final number.
There are not nowadays many sports from the enjoyment of which women are excluded; but some are considered as peculiarly within their province; and for these such as Cycling, Lawn-tennis, &c., the services of ladies have been secured.