Pierre Etchebaster’s Book Inscribed to Billy Haggard

Etchebaster, Pierre, 1893-1980.
Pierre's book; the game of court tennis.
Edited and introduced by George Plimpton.

Barre, Mass.: Barre, 1971. Original boards, cloth spine, pictorial jacket. Inscribed: "To Mr. W. Haggard. One of the most enthusiast of our beautiful game of "court tennis" and in souvenir of the wonderful time we have had, and still enjoying playing together.  With all my cordial regard, Pierre Etchebaster.  May 22‑1972."

Billy Haggard and Pierre Etchebaster



Reproduced from the Aiken Standard, April 20, 1970.


 

The Rules of (Court ) Tennis

Racquet and Tennis Club, New York [et al.].
The Rules of Tennis in the United States.
N.p.: n.p., 1934.  Original card wrappers, marked "W.D. Haggard."

These rules, agreed by the clubs in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, brought U.S. court tennis into conformity with  the rules adopted in Britain and elsewhere in 1931.  The ownership inscription is presumably some years after publication.  The pamphlet is open to show some of the specialized terminology of modern court tennis, mixing medieval French (joue, pique) and English terms (hazard) with modern slang (railroad).

Tickets from Three World Championship Challenges
Knox vs. Bostwick (1968), Bostwick vs. Willis (1969), Bostwick vs. Bostwick (1970).

 

Three Court Tennis Champions Pay Tribute to Billy Haggard

Program for World Tennis Championship 2nd Leg
Manchester Tennis and Racquet Club, May 16‑20, 1969.

This program is inscribed to Mr. Haggard by three champions: Pierre Etchebaster, undefeated World Court Tennis Champion from 1928 to 1954 ("To Mr. W. Haggard lover of our wonderful game"), by the British open champion Frank Willis, professional at the Manchester club ("Hope your challenge is accepted soon"), and by George H. (Pete) Bostwick, Jr., the U.S. open and amateur champion and ("To the great Haggard–A future champion").   In 1969, the world championship was open from the retirement of R. Northrup Knox, who had defeated Bostwick’s previous challenge.  This time, as the score card shows, Bostwick won.   Both Knox and Bostwick, like Billy Haggard, had ties to the Aiken club.

The Manchester Tennis Court

One of a suite of photographs in the collection of European tennis courts.  Billy Haggard visited this court in 1969, for the British end of the championship contest between Bostwick and Willis.

A Book‑Collecting Hint from Arthur A. Houghton, Jr.

Memo, and pages from a bookdealer’s catalogue, pointing out a rebound copy of Scaino for sale in 1984 at $3500.   Mr. Haggard had bought his first copy of Scaino when he visited Oxford to play tennis in the 1950's, while in Britain to train for equestrian competition. 
 

Another Renaissance Rarity among Sporting Books

Turberville, George, 1540?-1610?
The noble art of venerie or hvnting. Wherein is handled and set out the vertues, nature, and properties of fivteene sundrie chaces, togither with the order and manner how to hunt and kill euery one of them. . . .
London: Imprinted by Henry Bynneman, for Christopher Barker, 1575.
Nineteenth‑century brown morocco, gilt.  Loaned for this exhibit by Janet Haggard Harkins.

Just as Billy Haggard was an equestrian and all‑round sportsman, as well as tennis devotee, his book collecting encompassed several other areas of sport.  Shown here is one of the highpoints of his collection of books about hunting, Turbeville’s Noble Art of Venerie, displayed alongside a copy of the 1611 second edition from the Thomas Cooper Library’s special collections, showing how the later printer recut this wood block to substitute a picture of King James I for the original picture of Queen Elizabeth.   

The Irish Hunting Stories of Somerville and Ross

Somerville, E. Œ. (Edith Œnone), 1858-1949, and Ross, Martin, 1862-1915.
Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, 1899.  Original pictorial cloth.
And: Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta: Longmans, Green, 1908. Original pictorial cloth.  Signed by Somerville on title‑page.
From the collection of Somerville and Ross recently donated by Janet Haggard Harkins.

These books about the hunting adventures of a Resident Magistrate ("R.M.") in the west of Ireland are among the best known works by two Irish cousins, Edith Somerville and Violet Martin ("Martin Ross").  The sketches had originally appeared in the Badminton Magazine, a British hunting journal. In the 1990's the series was televised on P.B.S.’s Masterpiece Theatre.