A few days ago, I stumbled across an interesting book review in the New York Times “TimesMachine” archive that originally ran in 1887. Lawn Tennis as a Game of Skill was written by S.C.F Peile. Solomon Charles Frederick Peile was a British military officer who was a Lieutenant in 1887 and eventually reached the rank of at least Colonel, as evidenced by another book he later published that has nothing to do with tennis. Peile should arguably have a Wikipedia page, but he doesn’t.
While Peile wrote his book for a British tennis audience, the “American Edition” was edited by Richard D. Sears, who was the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) president as well as the winner of the United States National Championships from 1882 through 1887. Sears contributed a preface for the American edition and made numerous editorial notes throughout the book that clarified some key differences between British and American tennis.
The American Edition also carries a tantalizing subtitle: With Latest Revised Laws as Played by the Best Clubs. It was immediately apparent that I had to lay my hands on this book. As fortune would have it, multiple editions have been digitized as a part of the Google Books Library Project. Since this book is out of copyright, it is in the public domain. Consequently, it is freely available on the internet.
The American edition also includes several appendices, including the “Laws of Lawn Tennis as Adopted by the U.S.N.L.T.A,” a section on “Field” decisions, rules for Umpires, and a list of clubs that belonged to the organization. It is a time capsule containing a treasure trove of information on how tennis was played in the United States at that moment in time.
I am like a kid in a candy shop. The next few Wednesday ‘Tennis Rules’ posts will delve further into some of the rules and terminology from 1887 that modern tennis players would not recognize. I plan on sticking with the 1887 edition for this exercise in a weak attempt to continue moving forward in time. However, I would note that the updates from “Tennis Rule Changes in 1887” are not included in the print copy from that year.
Pulling back the aperture a bit to look at the big picture, my current narrative arc is establishing a baseline of the rules of tennis in the United States prior to the formation of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and international standardization of the rules in 1913. Determining where those foundational rules came from is itself a tangent before ultimately delving into how the ITF Rules of Tennis are updated and maintained.
In other words, my side quests have side quests, which also have side quests. In a nutshell, this is why this blog is entering its fifth year of continuous publication in January. I don’t anticipate running out of material any time soon.
- New Books: With Latest Revised Laws as Played by the Best Clubs, New York Times, July 3, 1887.
- Lawn Tennis as a Game of Skill, S.C.F Peile, 1887.
