Library of Sports & Games

How to Teach Paper-Folding and Cutting: A Practical Manual-Training Aid

Papercutting, also known as paper cutting or paper art, is a form of art where intricate designs are created by cutting paper with scissors or a knife. It is a traditional art form that has been practiced in various cultures for centuries. The techniques and styles of papercutting can vary…

Trout-Fishing for the Beginner

by Richard Clapham Purchase As Richard Clapham introduced his work on trout fishing, “Although anglers are well supplied with books pertaining to their favourite sport, the majority of such volumes appeals more to the practised fisherman than the novice. Many a beginner, however, is dependent on books for information regarding…

The Handbook of Conundrums

by Edith B. Ordway Purchase through Amazon Edith Bertha Ordway had a witty way with words. In this work, The Handbook of Conundrums, she offers hundreds of perplexing problems, puns, jokes and head-scratchers. Fans of bad jokes and surprising twists will enjoy this work. Ordway composed The Etiquette of Today…

Chess Endings From Modern Master-Play

by Jacques Mieses Purchase through Amazon  Jakob Mieses was born in 1865 in Leipzig, Germany. He enjoyed a long lasting professional chess career of 64 years. Mieses played in numerous tournaments throughout his life, and was known and studied as having a very aggressive, and at the same time, rather…

Miscellaneous Conjuring Tricks, From ‘Modern Magic’

by Professor Hoffman Purchase through Amazon  Magic is, by nature, a rather secretive field. One of the first people to write in detail about various tricks, methods and devices used to perform magic was Professor Hoffmann. His articles were considered pioneering in the field, particularly among English speakers. He became…

Practical Falconry: To Which is Added, How I Became a Falconer

by Gage Earle Freeman Purchase through Amazon  Gage Earle Freeman (1820-1903) wrote a number of articles on falconry. He was introduced to the sport in England and retained a life-long interest in it, often working with kestrel-hawks, peregrine falcons, and sparrow hawks. He was also an esteemed poet, winning four…

Salt Water Game Fishing

by Charles Frederick Holder Purchase through Amazon The ocean holds an untold amount of creatures; the depths are so great that all is not known about the ocean. Salt-water fishing offers participants an interesting challenge. Some participate for sport, in a quest to find unique specimens. Others are looking for…

Chess Masterpieces: A Collection of Selected Games by World’s Masters

by W. H. Watts Purchase through Amazon  Chess is seemingly a universal game, played by people around the world, but is believed to have originated in India sometime during the 600s, then appearing in its more known incantation with the differently powered pieces over 800 years later in Spain. It wasn’t…

Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards

by William Andrew Chatto Purchase through Amazon  |  Purchase through CreateSpace William Andrew Chatto (1799-1864) initially was employed in the wholesale tea business. However, his real passion was antiquarian scholarship, so in 1834, he gave up the family firm and devoted himself to writing full-time. His first work was entitled, Recollections of…

Gilded Play: Mary J. Jacques’s Pranks and Pastimes

Purchase through Amazon  |  Purchase on CreateSpace Edited and Introduced by Devin Proctor During America’s late nineteenth-century, parlor games were a dominant leisure activity of the upper classes. The ‘Gilded Age,’ as Mark Twain termed it, was characterized by the separation between leisurely wealth and the harsh existence of the…