Cricket 1907

98 CRICKET : A WEEKLY RECORD OF THE GAME. M a t 2, 1907. stones dozens of times, never dreaming that the two boys were still living, and that one of them was ‘ the well-known writer on the game.’ A little later he introduced me to Mr. V. E. Walker as the hero of the stone story. The match was Surrey v. England, and I may have to refer to it again in the course of this ‘ Chat.’ Humphrey Payne was a capital slow medium bowler who wanted watching, and we learned many a useful wrinkle from him. One day he said to me:— ‘If ever you get your blue at the University, don’t forget that I had a hand in it.’ No such dis­ tinction came my way, for I was articled to a Civil Engineer when not quite seventeen years old. Never were lads keener on the game, either as players or spectators. Surrey was my favourite county, the Middlesex Club not having then been formtd. We took in the Times at home in those days, and cricket matches, beyond the few of chief import­ ance were uot reported in that journal. So ou Wednesday and Saturday we would fetch the Times just for the sake of having a look at the Sporting Life and the doings of the All England and Ui ited Elevens, that newspaper being birred from our home. In those days there was no daily sporting paper; the Life appeared bi-weekly, the Sportsman had not started, whilst Bell's Life and the Field were published at the prohibi­ tive sum of sixpence. But one of our school chums took in Bell's Life, and we used to arrange to meet him on Sunday morning after church just to get the latest scores and results. Ah ! those were merry days, I can assure you.” “ Tell me some of your experiences as a collector of cricket books; have you had many good ‘ finds ’ ? ” “ The love of the gains was intensified by a love of books. One very early-on found equal pleasure in reading about cricket as in playing and watching it. My first purchase was of Fred Lilly white at the Oval, and I fancy it was during my first visit to that ground in 1862. Lillywhite was the card-of-the-match printer, and he had a stock of his books for sale. The book that I started my collection with was his ‘ English Cricketers’ Trip to Canada and the States ’ in 1859, a prime favourite of mine still, with its charming full-page illustrations. At the close of that year (1862) I beught his ‘ ‘ Guide ’ ’ for the sake of reading his account of the famous no­ ball match I had witnessed. In 1864 ‘ Wisden’ made its appearance and so that had to be got. Mind you, in those days boys got very littla pocket money, and so the investment of a shilling in a cricket took represented a lot of genuine tei:-denial; we had to save up onr coppers for such luxuries. A little later on I gave threepence for Lillywhite’s Quide of 1864, which was bound in full calf. Thus the collecting craze began and it has continued without a break up to the present day. Of course, for several ytars 1 was not aware of the existence of the older books on the game, such as N; ren, Lambert and the like, else I should have got them for next to nothing, as there were then no collectors with the exception of Mr. Ford.” “ Perhaps you would like to have a look at my cricket library. Here’s the catalogue. As you see, I have 1631 books in all. That list includes 16 bound volumes of the Field from 1858 to 1873, which I got for tenpence apiece at a sale. There are also eight thick MSS. books filled with old scores from 1826 to 1863 which poor Alcock gave me. I have no duplicates, for I am a collector not a dealer. But I have different editions of the same books, as you will observe; for instance, there are 8 Nyren’s, 8 Lambert’s, 7 I Zingari’s, 8 Cricketers’ Manuals (by Bat), 3 copies of Felix on the Bat, and no less than 10 editions of the Cricket Field. To the enthusiast trifles are very welcome, else you might say that my collection includes many books that are quite valueless; say the ‘ Cricket Calendar,’ just in front of you. I have every issue of this annual from 1869 onwards, with the exception of 1878 and 1880. Now Mr. Taylor, in his admirable ‘ Catalogue,’ prices a complete set at three to four guineas. Of course, I have had several lucky •finds.’ That ‘ Liverpool Scores 1847-64 ’ was found in a twopenny box on a bookstall. I gave ninepence for the same Nyren as my old friend, Fred Gale, once offered five pounds for in the Oval pavilion. The mention of F. G. reminds me to take out of that box two brochures from his pen which he kindly sent me, viz., ‘ The Alabama Claims ’ and ‘ Mr. Pepys on Cricket ’ : both are now very scarce indeed. Love’s Poem cost me five shillings only. But on the other hand, I won’t tell you how much I gave for other gems. Perhaps my biggest haul was the Boxall of 1804. For 25 years I was on the look-out for it, but never heard of a copy anywhere save that at the British Museum which is spoiled by being bound up with two other cricket books. I began to despair, when exactly nine years since I received one morning two booksellers’ catalogues, but as I had to catch an early train I had no time to examine them. Whilst folding up a letter my eye lighted on the word cricket on the last page of one of the cttalogues. To my amazement it was Boxall’s book, but as it was a London catalogue I feared I was too late. A sixpenny wire, however, secured it, the bookseller informing me that he had no less than 25 applicants for it during that day. The price was only half a guinea. Some of my treasures were gifts. In 1886 Charles Box made over to me every item he possessed on the game. His kindness enabled me to complete Fred Lillywhite’s Guides. I called at his house in Camber­ well several times; he was an old-world gentleman, wore the fob-pocket and a swallow-tail coat. His pet aversion was Fred Lillywhite who, he said, knew nothing whatever about cricket, but simply put his name to other people’s work. Prize-fighting was his hobby. Well, oddly enough, the other day I saw at a broker’s an old coloured print of the Sayers and Heenan fight at Farnborough in 1860, with the key-plate. Curiosity led me to examine the latter, and there, in the foreground, somewhat flashily dressed, stands the redoubtable Fred Lillywhite. So perhaps old Box was right in his pronouncement.” “ There again are two books I set great store b y ; both by Lord Charles Bussell. Open them and you will see that this one was given me by W. G. Grace, the other by his lordship. You will have great difficulty in reading the letter that accompanied the latter book, which I pasted on the inside cover. Ripon Scores, 1813 to 1836, was given me by an old Ripon man, Mr. William­ son, and is, I believe, the only copy extant. But passing by Britcher’s Scores of 1803, a complete set of the American Cricketer and hosts of other books that have a history for me, just look at two more. There’s George Anderson’s Diary of the English Cricketers’ Australian Tour in 1863-4. Isn’t the penmanship perfect P That he gave me when I visited him at Bedale not long before his death. But here’s a genuine curiosity— ‘ The Trip to Australia : Scraps from the Diary of one of the Twelve, 1864.’ That was a present from a local milk-dealer not very long ago. Beading it carefully through to find the clue to its authorship, I came up jn this entry: ‘ November 27th. My Birthday.’ Then the writer was E. M. Grace. At ones I wrote him asking why he had not published his diary entire. His answer was returned that he had not printed any portion of it, and would like to see what I referred to. So it was sent. In a few days E. M. wrote that it cer­ tainly was his diary, but he was at a loss to know how it had got into print. It was sent home to his mother, who lent it to several friends, and one of them must have taken the liberty of publishing it. I wonder whether there is another copy. How it got to Wakefield is a mystery. But there—you will be bored to death if I show you more books. It is a danger­ ous experiment to set an enthusiast going on his bobby. Still, what is more health­ ful than a hobby for a man who works long and hard at his daily calling ? Though it is increasingly difficult to keep pace with all the cricket publications, I hope to remain in the hunt all my life, and after that I should like my cricket library to find a permanent home in the paviliun at Lord’s.” “ Doubtless you have some interesting reminiscences of great matches ? ” “ Yes, any number, but I must not presume on your patience. Take my first visit to the Oval in 1862, and the famous no-ball incident which resulted in the alteration of Law 10 in 1864. Can I ever forget the excitement of that Tuesday evening ? We youngsters en­ joyed it immensely, though we were sorry that the game was stopped an hour before closing time. Hayward and Car­ penter, two of our heroes, made huge scores, but Daft, another prime favourite, failed. And we had hoped for great things from him, especially as we could not get a holiday from school when he