THE YOUNG FOLKS' CYCLOPÆDIA or GAMES AND SPORTS BY JOHN D. CHAMPLIN LATE ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THE AMERICAN CYCLOPÆDIA 790 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. ላለ THE YOUNG FOLKS' CYCLOPÆDIA OF GAMES AND SPORTS is a compendium of recreations of all kinds, including indoor and outdoor games and plays, athletic and rural sports and pastimes, chemical and mechanical experiments and amusements, and every similar thing that can interest a wide-awake boy or girl. Like the other volumes in the Young Folks' Series, it is in cyclopædic style, a novelty in a work of this kind, rendering its articles easy of reference, and combining other advantages never before united in a similar volume. Intended primarily for the family, for the use of children and youth of all ages, it will be of equal value to the adult, as it includes the official rules, given word for word, of athletic sports and standard games, and the official records of athletic meets and events, thus making it a work of reference for the settlement of disputed questions relating to such matters. To insure accuracy, such articles as require it have been revised by competent experts. Among the features of the work are a brief historical sketch of each game or sport, the description of foreign varieties of each, a full illustration of the text by accurate plans and diagrams, and a system of etymology, as in the other volumes of the series, giving the derivation of names and technical terms. While the "padding" characteristic of too many such works has been rigorously excluded, the endeavor has been to make the explanations full enough for simplicity and clearness. Unlike many other works on sports and games published in this country, which are merely reprints of English books, this cyclopædia has been written for American use from the American standpoint, even such a game as Cricket being treated as it is played in the United States. While the illustration is very full, no picture has been inserted for its own sake, or otherwise than as an aid to the understanding of the text or the elucidation of different periods of games and sports. 15368 |