This is the portrait gallery of pugilists. You can discover boxing’s greatest era - from the 1850s to the 1890s - when bare-knuckle fighting had its heyday. Written by Billy Edwards, Lightweight Champion of the World in 1874, this book was first issued by the Pugilistic Publishing Company of London and Philadelphia, in 1894, under the title The Pugilistic Portrait Gallery. It is a historical guide to the career histories of the most famous boxers of the time from England, Australia and America, including John L. Sullivan, ‘Gentleman Jim’ Corbett, and Bob Fitzsimmons. You can complete with biographical sketches and authentic records of their victories and defeats. Billy Edwards provides atmospheric accounts of the most famous and interesting contests of the time, with a stated focus on unbiased reporting and accurate presentation of facts. The true stories of strength, courage and simple savagery related in this book will stretch the credulity of modern boxing fans. It would be difficult, for example, to imagine Floyd Mayweather Jr fighting his fifty closest challengers in a single nine-month period, as Corbett did in 1883; or to picture the Klitschko brothers slugging it out until darkness - over 106 rounds - and then reconvening the following day to conclude the contest. Originally published in 1894, this glorious facsimile documents and depicts the career histories of a group of pugilists of an almost mythical stature. The boxers’ profiles are accompanied by charming illustrations from the period, created either from authentic photographs or sketches from real life. As well as forming a valuable historical documentation of a crucial period in boxing’s history, when the modern fight game first took shape, this book provides exciting and fascinating accounts of some of the greatest boxers who ever lived.
