After long research, The Treasured Library in collaboration with The National Library of Scotland, The Scottish Record Office, The City of Edinburgh's Archives and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, has launched a facsimile edition of “The Key Documents of the Early History of Golf.” Collectors in the world of golf should be very excited about this undertaking.
The objective of the project was to reproduce “with absolute fidelity” a group of important original documents, using both the artistry of fine craftsworkers and the latest technology. The result was a series of faithful reproductions that will make it difficult for you to tell the difference between the original and the facsimile.
What makes this edition a masterwork is that copies will be limited and numbered. Only 2,500 copies will be issued worldwide. Each set will be comprised of 25 documents, presented in a luxuriously crafted wooden box. The edition was done with the assistance of Testimonio Editorial of Madrid.
The documents include bans on golf published by Scottish kings in the 1400s in an effort to stomp out the game, licenses issued for ballmaking by the Scottish crown in the 1600s, the diary of a Scottish medical student who lived in the late 17th century and discusses his swing, ballmaking, clubmaking and handicaps in his personal journal. And there are the rules of the first open competition held in 1744 at the Links of Leith.
In understanding these seminal documents and their relationship to the development of the game of golf, you will have the help of Olive Geddes, Director of the Manuscript Division in The National Library of Scotland.
That's because your purchase will include a copy of her book “A Swing Through Time.” With this companion volume, Ms. Geddes, an expert in golf history, will guide you through times and places. With her aid, golfers can familiarize themselves with the figures that shape the beginning of our beloved game.
“A Swing Through Time” includes transcriptions of every document included in your collection. You will also be introduced to such characters as John Rattray, Thomas Kincaid, James Melville, David Wedderburn, David Beaton of Creich, and King James II, III and IV and their roles in the birth and development of the game.
This collection would make the ideal gift for a family member or business colleague who is devoted to golf. If you collect antiquities involving golf, you will not want to let this opportunity pass without acting now.
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