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Cover of The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England
 Including the Rural and Domestic Recreations, May Games, Mummeries, Shows, Processions, Pageants, and Pompous Spectacles from the Earliest Period to the Present Time

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The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England Including the Rural and Domestic Recreations, May Games, Mummeries, Shows, Processions, Pageants, and Pompous Spectacles from the Earliest Period to the Present Time

by Joseph Strutt

Language: en1,532 downloads on Project Gutenberg

Subjects

In: History - British·Sports/Hobbies

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #48983.

About this book

The work is a comprehensive survey of English recreation from antiquity to the early nineteenth century, compiled by Joseph Strutt and issued in a new, more affordable format in 1830. The opening pages explain that the earlier quarto editions of 1801 and 1810 suffered from misplaced plates and a lack of indexes, problems the editor has remedied by aligning each engraving with its text and providing a detailed index. The volume promises a systematic account of everything from Roman and Saxon games, through medieval tournaments, hunting, hawking, and archery, to later urban pastimes such as horse‑racing, bowling, and various forms of theatre, puppetry, and animal baiting. Its contents list alone maps a vast terrain, rural exercises, civic shows, May‑games, and even the regulation of gambling, offering a factual, almost encyclopedic record of England’s social customs and amusements.

Written in a sober, scholarly tone typical of early‑nineteenth‑century antiquarian literature, the text combines factual description with occasional moral commentary, avoiding speculation while still indulging the reader’s curiosity about bygone customs. Its dense, chapter‑by‑chapter structure, extensive indexing, and reliance on historical statutes will appeal to researchers, historians of sport and culture, and anyone fascinated by the evolution of leisure in England. Those who enjoy detailed reference works rather than narrative histories will find Strutt’s methodical approach both informative and rewarding.

Who appears in this book

  • Mr. StruttElderly early‑19th‑century gentleman, powdered hair, spectacles, dark coat, scholarly expression

The opening · free to read

By William Hone,

AUTHOR OF THE EVERY-DAY BOOK, TABLE BOOK, YEAR BOOK, ETC.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG, 73, CHEAPSIDE.

1845.

J. Haddon, Printer, Castle Street, Finsbury.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THERE are two previous editions of Mr. STRUTT'S Sports and Pastimes of the People of England. The first appeared in 1801; the second, which was published in 1810, the year wherein the author died, was an incorrect reprint, without a single additional line. Both were in quarto, and as each of the plates, with few exceptions, contained several subjects referred to in different parts of the work, and as there were no paginal references on the plates, they were frequently embarrassing to the reader.

The present edition is of a more convenient size, and at one-sixth of the price of the former editions; and every engraving is on the page it illustrates.

To a volume abounding in historical and other interesting facts, an Index seemed indispensable; and a very copious one is annexed. The Two former editions were without.

If Mr. STRUTT had lived, I am persuaded he would have incorporated into the body of the work some notes, which were needlessly placed on the bottom margins. I have ventured to take them up into the pages; but without any undue alteration of the author's language.

I hope, therefore, that my aim to render this edition generally desirable and available, has been fully accomplished.

W. HONE.

Newington Green, 1830.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

A GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE POPULAR SPORTS, PASTIMES, AND MILITARY GAMES, TOGETHER WITH THE VARIOUS SPECTACLES OF MIRTH OR SPLENDOUR, EXHIBITED PUBLICLY OR PRIVATELY, FOR THE SAKE OF AMUSEMENT, AT DIFFERENT PERIOD, IN ENGLAND.

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