Pugilistica: the History of British Boxing - Henry Downes Miles - Bauman Rare Books

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Pugilistica: the History of British Boxing

Henry Downes MILES

Item#: 82598 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Pugilistica: the History of British Boxing

ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF BRITISH BOXING, ATTRACTIVE THREE-VOLUME SET

MILES, Henry Downes. Pugilistica: The History of British Boxing. Edinburgh: John Grant, 1906. Three volumes. Thick octavo, original brown cloth, gilt vignettes on spines and front covers, top edges gilt, uncut.

Later edition of this extensive survey of British boxing, richly illustrated with 100 wood-engraved portraits of Britain’s greatest pugilists.

Sports journalist and the editor of The Sportsman’s Magazine, Henry Miles traces the history of British boxing through “the lives of the most celebrated pugilists; full reports of their battles from contemporary newspapers, with authentic portraits, personal anedotes, and sketches of the principal patrons of the prize ring, forming a complete history of the ring from Fig and Broughton, 1719-40, to the last championship battle between King and Heenen in December 1863”— just prior to the publication of the new rules for boxing sponsored by the Marquess of Queensbury in 1867. Of special interest are accounts of African-American boxers Thomas Molineaux and Bill Richmond, both of whom achieved success in Britain in the early 1800s. First issued in parts beginning in 1866, the complete work was finished and published with a new preface in three volumes in 1880.

A near-fine set, with only occasional faint foxing, minor rubbing to original cloth.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
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