The William D. Haggard III Collection of Tennis Books includes the very first book about tennis, by Antonio Scaino, published in 1555, and over 100 other volumes charting the development and history of court (or ‘royal’ or 'real') tennis, the ancestor of the modern game. Additional gifts from Janet Haggard have extended the range of the collection into books about lawn tennis also.

The Haggard Collection, purchased for the library with support from Haggard’s friends and a matching grant from the Lucy Hampton Bostick Residuary Charitable Trust, brings Thomas Cooper Library its first major collection of rare books about sports history.

“The evolution of tennis from Renaissance palaces to Victorian lawns to modern competition is a good example of how sports reflect wider social change," said Patrick Scott, director of Special Collections. "The Haggard Collection should be of value for undergraduate classes and researchers."

Billy Haggard, an champion equestrian and all-round sportsman from Aiken, S.C., who died early last year, was also a renowned collector of sporting books. He had visited Thomas Cooper Library, and several years ago he loaned the books from his collection for a exhibit. Aiken has one of the only clubs in the south for court tennis, at which Haggard also competed successfully.

For more information, contact Patrick Scott at 7-1275 or scottp@gwm.sc.edu.

4/05