BENTLEY, (Henry).

A CORRECT ACCOUNT OF ALL THE CRICKET MATCHES WHICH HAVE BEEN PLAYED BY THE MARY-LE-BONE CLUB, AND ALL OTHER PRINCIPAL MATCHES, FROM THE YEAR 1786 TO 1822 INCLUSIVE.
London, 1823.
8vo. [374]pp. Complete with half-title. A few leaves foxed, otherwise in very goodl untrimmed condition. Original boards, rebacked in half green calf.
AN INTERESTING ASSOCIATION ITEM. PRESENTED BY W.B. NORTHEY TO MISS AISLABIE, INSCRIBED: W.B. Northey. Gift of Miss Aislabie on the half-title. Benjamin Aislabie (1774-1842) was President of MCC in 1823, so this may have been presented to a member of the family to mark the occasion. Northey was involved with Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club which he resuscitated and managed in 1849 after it had been waning since 1831. Published prior to the disastrous fire at Lord's in 1825, Bentley preserved records which would otherwise have been lost. Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, 1970, Page 270: '1823. H. Bentley issued his Correct account of all Matches 1786 - 1822: two supplements appeared for season 1823, and 1824-5.' Allen, Early Books on Cricket, 1987, no. 20. page 23: 'the most comprehensive tome on cricket to date...' Taylor, Catalogue of Cricket Literature, 1906, page 15: 'A glaring defect of Bentley's book is the fact that its pages are unnumbered, and consequently great difficulty is experienced in knowing whether the edition is complete or not. Including title-page the book should consist of 384 [sic] pages. Two supplementary editions were published; the first giving full scores of all matches played in 1823, and the second the same for the seasons 1824-25...very scarce.' (Taylor incorrectly gives the collation of the main work as 384 pages). Goldman, Bibliography of Cricket, 1937: 'A cricket rarity.' Padwick, 1221.
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