Murray, John – How a Boxing Contest is Judged. c1912-13

Description

Murray, John, ‘How a Boxing Contest is Judged’ 53-pages. c1912-13. London: Ewart, Seymour & Co. LTD, 12 Burleigh Street, Strand W.C.

How a Boxing Contest is Judged, formally designated as “Boxing” Handbooks, No. 2 in the publisher’s uniform sports series.
• Publisher & Location: Published by Ewart, Seymour & Co., LTD. out of their offices at 12 Burleigh Street, Strand, London, W.C.
• Format & Content: A scarce, highly specialized handbook providing an in-depth breakdown of early 20th-century boxing officiating mechanics. It features the official scoring criteria and ring regulations of the historic National Sporting Club (NSC) alongside other globally recognized governing rules of the era. The text explicitly defines how judges are to score clean hits, defensive work, general ringcraft, and how infractions or fouls are penalized.
• The Binding (Hardcover Variant): Consistent with the other volumes in your collection, this is the scarce cloth-backed hardcover edition featuring rigid paper-covered boards, which was distributed alongside the standard, more common fragile paper wrapper version.
• The Cover Art: The front board features a light blue-grey or cream paper surface bordered by an ornate, vintage Art Nouveau-inspired blue geometric illustration on the left and right margins. It displays the clear series marker at the top and a prominent central 6D. Net (Sixpence) retail price stamp.
• Internal Advertisements: The internal flyleaf features a detailed promotional advertisement for Lieut. J.P. Muller’s physical culture handbook My System, explicitly highlighting a written endorsement from A.F. Bettinson, the legendary manager and co-founder of the National Sporting Club.

Year of Publication:
This handbook was published in circa 1912–1913.
Ewart, Seymour & Co. established this handbook numbering sequence just before World War I. While later volumes in the series (like No. 8, Ring Strategy and Tactics) were published around 1914, this lower-numbered volume (No. 2) represents one of the earliest entries in the series, printed right as the publisher began aggressively cross-promoting Muller’s physical culture system to British boxing practioners.