Offered here is an 1824 copy of the Rules of the Thistle Golf Club - the first edition in original wrappers.   Written by James Cundell and fully titled Rules of The Thistle Golf Club; with Some Historical Notices Relative to the Progress of the Game of Golf in Scotland, this book stands near the summit of the most important golf books in history. 

Rules of the Thistle Golf Club is the first prose book solely devoted to golf. It contains over fifty pages of invaluable historical information, including 11 pages of rules, a list of members of the Thistle Golf Club, hole lengths (at the time it was only a five hole course), and the rest—the majority of the book—being a history of the game of golf up to that point in time. The first book devoted to golf, The Goff by Thomas Mathison (1743), is a short 22 page mock epic poem.  The Goff is the only title that pre-dates Cundell’s Thistle Golf Club rule book, which is considered one of only six books of printed rules published prior to 1830.

The spine on this particular copy has been professionally repaired (nearly indiscernible). There is a small chip to the top corner of the front wrapper, and faint dampstains in a few places around the margins of the front wrapper; a touch foxed with faint marginal dampstain to the frontispiece.  There is an ink inscription on the front free endpaper which reads, "To Mr William Morris, with the best respects of W. Wilson, 27th April, 1827", and "J. W. Muir". The clam shell box has been custom made for this book, and beautifully so. 

Overall, this copy is solid and presents well. it's good for another two centuries.  Jeff Ellis Golf Auctions is thrilled to offer a book of such age, rarity, and historical significance.