First Pool Instruction Book?

Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
What was the name of the first (real) instuction book (one that had diagrams, where to hit the QB and such? A book you could really learn how to shoot shots. About what year was it pulished. I know Ray Martin's 99 Critical Shots in Pool came out over 30 years ago and I believe I read Robert Byrne's book back in the 1960's. So were there any as good or better before that? Johnnyt
 
Johnnyt said:
What was the name of the first (real) instuction book (one that had diagrams, where to hit the QB and such? A book you could really learn how to shoot shots. About what year was it pulished. I know Ray Martin's 99 Critical Shots in Pool came out over 30 years ago and I believe I read Robert Byrne's book back in the 1960's. So were there any as good or better before that? Johnnyt
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Have you considered these three Johnnyt? I found them on Wikipedia. You may also check with Michael Shamos at the Billiards Archive.

Daly's Billiard Book (1800s, by champion Maurice Daly; perhaps the first mass-produced, general-audience book on the topic; should start as a section in his bio and possibly stay that way)

The Compleat Gamester (1674, by Charles Cotton; the earliest known written rules in English for billiards games, among many others; possibly should just be part of Cotton's article, but probably not, as it had its own lasting significance, and wasn't even attributed to Cotton until considerably later.

Edmond Hoyle's Mr. Hoyle's Games Complete in 1750, which outsold Cotton's then-obsolete work.[
 
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dr9ball said:
Have you considered these three Johnnyt? I found them on Wikipedia. You may also check with Michael Shamos at the Billiards Archive.

Daly's Billiard Book (1800s, by champion Maurice Daly; perhaps the first mass-produced, general-audience book on the topic; should start as a section in his bio and possibly stay that way)

The Compleat Gamester (1674, by Charles Cotton; the earliest known written rules in English for billiards games, among many others; possibly should just be part of Cotton's article, but probably not, as it had its own lasting significance, and wasn't even attributed to Cotton until considerably later.

Edmond Hoyle's Mr. Hoyle's Games Complete in 1750, which outsold Cotton's then-obsolete work.[
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I would say none of these and I have Daly's Billiard Book. The others are too old to have any kind of information like what he's looking for. Daly's book is on Carom Billiards, not Pool. Modern Billiards, maybe, of which there are several editions, all in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Bob Jewett would be the one to ask.
 
Mosconi's little red book is copyright 1948. There may be others but at the moment I'm not aware of any. I have reference books, however......
My copy of Daly's is copyright 1913, no other date listed.
99 Critical Shots is copyright 1977, Byrne is 1978.
 
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I find references to Modern Billiards in the 1800s in two different editions but these are Carom books, I believe. I've found some others dating from the late 1800s to early 1900s with Billiards in the title but the pictures only show the covers and not the content. I'd be surprised if these contained information on Pool as well as Billiards but I can't tell from the pictures.
 
Modern Guide to Pocket Billiards by Luther Lassiter, 1964. I don't have this, damn it!
 
What I'm getting at is there were very slim pickings before the books I metioned for the beginer or advanved players that wanted info back in the day. Now a days it's all over the place free and for a price. Johnnyt
 
The game of billiards

By Edwin Kentfield. 1839

It's English billiards, it has diagrams and such too. The text of it is uploaded here. http://www.eaba.co.uk/books/kentfield/chapter1.html

Kentfield was the first proper professional billiards champion in England. Though a man named Jack Karr claimed that title as well previously he was more of a hustler however.

By reading this you can really see the evolution of what is thought to be proper mechanics. Kentfield claims that the player should be standing up completely straight while shooting. The low stance with the chin on the cue wasn't common place until after 1910.
 
Johnnyt said:
What was the name of the first (real) instuction book (one that had diagrams, where to hit the QB and such? A book you could really learn how to shoot shots. About what year was it pulished. I know Ray Martin's 99 Critical Shots in Pool came out over 30 years ago and I believe I read Robert Byrne's book back in the 1960's. So were there any as good or better before that? Johnnyt
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E. White, A Practical Treatise on the Game of Billiards, 1807 (London: W. Milller).

White is writing about English Billiards, which includes both pocketing and caroms. He discusses the four ways to hit the cue ball, which we would call center ball, follow, draw and jump shots. He does not spend any time on side spin since his book was written before tips existed. He does recommend chalking (or using a file) before hitting the ball above or below center. For pocketing, he illustrates and discusses full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and 1/8 hits and diagrams shots to practice. He discusses strategy such as which shots are two-way.

The book is available as a very well-done hardback reprint from Carter Adams, who usually has a copy up on Ebay for about $40 but not right now. I have an extra copy of the original.

Kentfield's book (Edwin Kentfield, The Game of Billiards, 1839 London:Thurston) was in print until 1886. It is also about English Billiards. He illustrates the proper stance, the 17 points to hit on the cue ball (center, slightly off-center, well off-center in each of 8 directions), full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 and fine-ball hits on the object ball, how to make a bridge, the natural dead-ball bank angles, how the cushions react differently to different speeds of stroke, how the margin of error changes with distance from the pocket, the need to play with a level stick unless you want a jump, the masse stroke, the effect of side on the cushion (a ball going straight up the middle of the table goes to either a corner or a side pocket), the basic idea of the difficulty of pocketing a ball being the product of distances in the shot, the danger of balls jumping from pockets if struck too hard, and that shots along the cushion should be shot at low speed to prevent rejection, etc. He also illustrates "aim-and-pivot" or "backhand english" for squirt compensation, although he doesn't call it that (page 166 of the PDF mentioned below). He illustrates swerve on english shots, and balls arcing due to follow and draw.

You can see the entire 5th edition (1850) on-line at books.google.com -- just stick "Kentfield billiards" into the search box. You can download the PDF which is about 3MB. The 5th edition has some additional material compared to the first. The 6th (1886) appears to be an unaugmented reprint of the 1st but in a smaller format. I have an extra copy of the 6th edition.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
E. White, A Practical Treatise on the Game of Billiards, 1807 (London: W. Milller).

White is writing about English Billiards, which includes both pocketing and caroms. He discusses the four ways to hit the cue ball, which we would call center ball, follow, draw and jump shots. He does not spend any time on side spin since his book was written before tips existed. He does recommend chalking (or using a file) before hitting the ball above or below center. For pocketing, he illustrates and discusses full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and 1/8 hits and diagrams shots to practice. He discusses strategy such as which shots are two-way.

The book is available as a very well-done hardback reprint from Carter Adams, who usually has a copy up on Ebay for about $40 but not right now. I have an extra copy of the original.

Kentfield's book (Edwin Kentfield, The Game of Billiards, 1839 London:Thurston) was in print until 1886. It is also about English Billiards. He illustrates the proper stance, the 17 points to hit on the cue ball (center, slightly off-center, well off-center in each of 8 directions), full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 and fine-ball hits on the object ball, how to make a bridge, the natural dead-ball bank angles, how the cushions react differently to different speeds of stroke, how the margin of error changes with distance from the pocket, the need to play with a level stick unless you want a jump, the masse stroke, the effect of side on the cushion (a ball going straight up the middle of the table goes to either a corner or a side pocket), the basic idea of the difficulty of pocketing a ball being the product of distances in the shot, the danger of balls jumping from pockets if struck too hard, and that shots along the cushion should be shot at low speed to prevent rejection, etc. He also illustrates "aim-and-pivot" or "backhand english" for squirt compensation, although he doesn't call it that (page 166 of the PDF mentioned below). He illustrates swerve on english shots, and balls arcing due to follow and draw.

You can see the entire 5th edition (1850) on-line at books.google.com -- just stick "Kentfield billiards" into the search box. You can download the PDF which is about 3MB. The 5th edition has some additional material compared to the first. The 6th (1886) appears to be an unaugmented reprint of the 1st but in a smaller format. I have an extra copy of the 6th edition.
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Thank you Bob. I will check it out. Johnnyt
PS:Hmmm, no tips. That might make 9-ball a little harder :eek:. Johnnyt
 
Johnnyt said:
Thank you Bob. I will check it out. Johnnyt
PS:Hmmm, no tips. That might make 9-ball a little harder :eek:. Johnnyt
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Hi Johnny,

First, I'd like to thank Bob for his kind comment on my repring of White.

I'd be glad to send you a copy for $45 including shipping. I also have extra copies of the original White(1st), Kentfield(6th), Phelan(1st) and others...

Regards,
Carter Adams
 
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