wlsengland Books on Bowls. The Game of Bowling on the Green or Lawn Bowls
picture on front cover/dust jacket
Title The Game of Bowling on the Green or Lawn Bowls
Editor James Weir Greig
Publisher American Sports Publishing Co, New York, USA
First published 1910
ISBN Pre-ISBN system
Edition reviewed 1st (reprinted)
Hardback/softback Softback
List price 10 cents
Cover size (cm)
(height x width)
21.0 x 14.6
Number of pages 41 (excluding 40 pages of advertisements)
Number of pages with Coloured photos Black & white photos Line drawings
  None 9 3
Synopsis This title is one of an increasing number of 'Public Domain' books now being printed across a multitude of genres. Public Domain books are those that are out of copyright and hence allow printing to be done from the original publication - often with an attractive selling price. Like most bowls books of this age, an original copy - assuming one became available - would almost certainly be prohibitively expensive, and so the opportunity to purchase this one for a few pounds was irresistible.

The book is just one in a series of over 300 in 'Spalding's Athletic Library'. Mr A G Spalding was one of the first in America to publish a handbook devoted to athletic sports (base ball) and followed it up at intervals with other titles on sports prominent in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The first 20 pages of The Game of Bowling on the Green or Lawn Bowls are essentially devoted to advertising Spalding's Athletic Library, with the final 20 pages focused on promoting the company's extensive range of sporting goods and equipment - from sets of bowls at $8.50 a pair to steel lockers (prices on request).

The 41-page section on bowls is basic and divided into the following headings:

  • Introductory
  • Essentials of the Game
  • How to Play the Game
  • How to Build a Green
  • Laws of the Game
  • Rules for the Game of Points