Subject: Prints - Sports, Golf
Period: 1830 (published)
Publication:
Color: Black & White
Size:
3.9 x 6.2 inches
9.9 x 15.7 cm
This is the first volume of The Journal of Health, the earliest serial publication related to personal health in the United States, containing 24 bi-weekly issues for the period September 1829 - August 1830. It features an early lithograph frontispiece promoting the value of exercise with quotation "By various sports, o'er hills, through vallies &c, by rivers' brink, Is life both sweeten'd & prolong'd." At center is a young man holding a curved stick and ball similar to an early golf club and ball. While European prints of golf date back to the 17th century (including its Dutch predecessor kolf), illustrations published in the United States are very scarce prior to the mid-19th century. This image is therefore one of the earliest American depictions of a golf-type game. Lithographed by Childs. Hardbound in quarter-calf with tips over marbled boards and gilt title on the spine.
References:
Condition: B
Contents have light toning and foxing. Binding is fully intact with moderate wear.