Hilton, Harold H. and Garden G. Smith, 1912, First Edition. 276 pages. No. 17 of 100 copies of this Limited Edition de Luxe, Large Paper Edition. First Edition. Joe Murdoch said about this volume, 'This is one of the most magnificent books in the entire library of golf, comprehensive in content, very handsome in appearance and attractively illustrated'. The book is done in original hand tooled full vellum, is gilt-tooled with a pictorial lion emblem on the front cover, stamped in green and black, lettered in gilt, white moiré silk endpapers, original ribbon bookmark. Vellum is a thin sheet of specially prepared leather used for writing, printing, or as a binding material and it is considered superior in quality. All edges gilt. Presented in decorative paper-covered slipcase, although the spine panel of the slipcase is detached. There is a faint circle and some minor spotting on the front cover, but still displays very well.
Harold Hilton was one of the best golfers of his era winning the Open Championship twice, the US Amateur once and the British Amateur four times. Garden Smith was the editor of Golf Illustrated. The book features sections contributed by a variety of well-know period names including Bernard Darwin and Horace Hutchinson asa well as by Hilton and Smith. Murdoch 348. Donovan & Jerris H17830. One of the downsides of using vellum as a binding is that it soils easily. Although the book rarely comes up for sale, other copies we have seen over the last two decades have far more soiling and deterioration to the cover than this copy, which is quite good. Also, the delicate paper slipcase is normally not present in any form.
A grand and ornate book!