| The Game of Sphairistike
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Lawn Tennis |
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by Walter Wingfield
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In 1858 an outdoor version of real tennis was introduced and called pelota, after the Spanish game, but it did not catch on. Then in 1874 one Major Walter Clopton Wingfield introduced the world to the game that was to become lawn tennis and, for reasons best known to him, decided to call it Sphairistike. This derived from a Greek word referring to an ancient ball game. Wingfield had a kit produced, containing a net and posts, four bats (not yet called rackets), balls, a mallet and a line brush. The whole thing cost five guineas, rising a year later to six pounds, and was accompanied by a book of rules. Wingfield clearly assumed that his buyers would be educated types as he used the Greek letters for the name Sphairistike on the box and on the cover of the rule-book! This book is a facsimile reprint of the second edition of 1874. At 40 pages it is much longer than the first eight-page edition: the extra pages are taken up with reviews from contemporary newspapers and magazines, explaining and praising this new game of lawn tennis. To round it off Major Wingfield proudly lists the names of his most distinguished customers, and provides a fascinating price list for all the equipment his readers could need in order to take up the game. Copies of the original Sphairistike booklets are now extremely rare. The original from which this reprint is copied is kept in the library of the AELTC (The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club) – in Wimbledon – along with several subsequent editions. The book is on loan to the AELTC from the much smaller Wimbledon Society Museum of Local History in Wimbledon village: this is a charity, is manned by volunteers and opens to the public on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to the Museum. In 1858 an outdoor version of real tennis was introduced and called pelota, after the Spanish game, but it did not catch on. Then in 1874 one Major Walter Clopton Wingfield introduced the world to the game that was to become lawn tennis and, for reasons best known to him, decided to call it Sphairistike. This derived from a Greek word referring to an ancient ball game. Wingfield had a kit produced, containing a net and posts, four bats (not yet called rackets), balls, a mallet and a line brush. The whole thing cost five guineas, rising a year later to six pounds, and was accompanied by a book of rules. Wingfield clearly assumed that his buyers would be educated types as he used the Greek letters for the name Sphairistike on the box and on the cover of the rule-book! This book is a facsimile reprint of the second edition of 1874. At 40 pages it is much longer than the first eight-page edition: the extra pages are taken up with reviews from contemporary newspapers and magazines, explaining and praising this new game of lawn tennis. To round it off Major Wingfield proudly lists the names of his most distinguished customers, and provides a fascinating price list for all the equipment his readers could need in order to take up the game. Copies of the original Sphairistike booklets are now extremely rare. The original from which this reprint is copied is kept in the library of the AELTC (The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club) – in Wimbledon – along with several subsequent editions. The book is on loan to the AELTC from the much smaller Wimbledon Society Museum of Local History in Wimbledon village: this is a charity, is manned by volunteers and opens to the public on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to the Museum.
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