The Boy’s Own Book: A Complete Encyclopedia of all the Diversions, Athletic, Scientific, and Recreative, of Boyhood and Youth

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The Boy’s Own Book was a tremendous contrast to the juvenile books of the period, which emphasized piety, morals and instruction of mind and soul; it must have been received with whoops of delight by the youngsters in England and the United States. –Robert William Henderson, author of Ball, Bat and Bishop: The Origin of Ball Games, 2001

The Boy’s Own Book: A Complete Encyclopedia of all the Diversions, Athletic, Scientific, and Recreative, of Boyhood and Youth is an encyclopedia of recreation and games for boys by English author WILLIAM CLARKE (1800-1838), published in London (1828) and in Boston (1829).

This encyclopedia covers games with marbles, sports with toys, archery and fencing, fishing and swimming, keeping pets such as birds and rabbits, puzzles and chess, and much more. It was this book that inspired the American author Robin Carver to write the classic The Book of Sports in 1834 (also available from Cosimo Classics).