Scaino on Tennis. Originally published in Italian in 1555 and now translated into English for the first time by W.W. Kershaw at the instance of C.B. Gabriel, Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Royal Tennis Court 1932-1947 ; with acknowledgements, corrigenda and historical notes by P.A. Negretti.

SCAINO, Antonio

Edité par London Strangeways Press Ltd 1951, 1951

A propos de cet article

First English translation of Scaino's Trattato del giuoco della palla, the first book on tennis. Limited to two-hundred and fifty copies, hand-numbered and autographed by P.A. Negretti. 8vo., original red cloth with contrasting spine label. Spine a little sunned, ink name, otherwise a very good copy. Scaino (1524-1612), priest and doctor of theology, was thirty-one when his book was published. It covers many forms of tennis, his definition of "ball-game" in W.W. Kershaw's English translation (London, 1951) being: "a contest between at least two players who, placed one on one side and the other on the other as adversaries, do battle together with a solid and round instrument made from the skin of an animal and capable of bouncing, called a ball, each doing his utmost to obtain victory for himself by striking the ball as far as possible towards his adversary, striking it sometimes at the volley in mid-air, sometimes after the first bound, and sometimes at the half-volley." (ch. iii, pt. II). The key differences in the game depend on whether it is played with a solid or air-filled ball; with the open hand or a clenched first; with the fist without an instrument or with the fist with an instrument; in the open or with a cord (ch v, pt. II). Two chapters in part II (xvi and xvii) describe the larger and smaller court for the cord game with the racket, and are followed by two chapters (xviii and xix) on the closed and open court for the cord game with the hand. While anxious to be impartial, Scaino admits to being a player of "il guioco della corda", the closest equivalent to present day real tennis and, indeed, lawn tennis, describing it (ch. xx) as "the rarest and most valued" form of ball-game because it is confined to a limited space, making it less subject to chance than the others and requiring a great degree of art and skill to surmount the cord ("a difficult and excellent feat not to be found in games played in the open"). In the next chapter, the argument between two students, Spanish and French, as to whether the cord game for the hand is better than the cord game for the racket, is left undecided, there being much to be said in favour of both. Tennis historians including Marshall, Noel and Clark, and the late Lord Aberdare have all emphasised the enormous value of Scaino, without whom there would scarcely be an adequate foundation for the history of the sport.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Scaino on Tennis. Originally published in Italian in 1555 and now translated into English for the first time by W.W. Kershaw at the instance of C.B. Gabriel, Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Royal Tennis Court 1932-1947 ; with acknowledgements, corrigenda and historical notes by P.A. Negretti.
• Éditeur: London Strangeways Press Ltd 1951
• Date de parution: 1951