Lot # 162: A.H.Findlay signed "Famous Golf Links" by Horace G. Hutchinson, 1st Edition 1891

Starting Bid: $250.00

Bids: 5 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
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Item was in Auction "Summer 2020",
which ran from 7/8/2020 12:00 PM to
7/25/2020 8:00 PM



Famous Golf Links by Horace G. Hutchinson and Andrew Lang, H.S C. Everard; T. Rutherford Clark.  1st Edition 1891 London: Longmans, Green, and Co.  This is the first book of golf to employ narrative and illustrations in describing famous British golf venues.  Original pictorial cloth, engraved frontispiece with tissue guard, illustrated with 18 plates after paintings and photographs by C.J. Emeny, Thomas Hodge, F.P. Hopkins, and others.  Light foxing only on the end pages, otherwise in excellent condition considering its age.

This particular copy has been signed "AH Findlay, Philadelphia, USA" inside the front cover. It was likely his personal copy. 

Alex Findlay is considered by many to be the Father of American Golf. Findlay was an accomplished golf course architect. He laid out over 130 courses including the original 9 holes at The Greenbriar. In 1887, shortly after arriving in America, Findlay laid out the first authenticated golf course in the United States (9 holes on Merchiston Ranch in Nance County, Nebraska). He was a skilled clubmaker. Wright & Ditson hired him in 1897 to design and sell clubs that the company would manufacture, which he did for a number of years. He was also a fine golfer. On August 11, 1886, he became the first player to shoot 72 in a competition when he used only 3 clubs—a driver, mashie, and cleek—to destroy the field at the Royal Montrose Golf Links. 

Best of all, he was an avid ambassador of the game from 1886 until his death in 1942. To generate interest in golf in the United States, Findlay traveled to England in 1899 and Persuaded Harry Vardon to tour the United States. In 1900 Vardon came and played an extensive tour of exhibitions set up by Findlay.  In quite a few Findlay filled in as Vardon's opponent. Findlay also managed the 1913 American exhibition tour of Vardon and Ted Ray along with managing Joyce Wethered’s 53-course exhibition tour of the United States and Canada in 1935.

Below Findlay's signature is a "Keith Foster" bookplate. Keith Foster has also signed and dated ('95) the book in the bottom RH corner on the blank following page. The auctioneer believes that the bookplate and Foster signature belong to Keith Foster the modern golf architect credited with restorations and redesigns at clubs such as The Greenbrier and the Philadelphia Cricket Club, among others.

The actual author of the book offered here, English amateur Horace Hutchinson, won the 1886 and 1887 British Amateur. He had multiple top-10 finishes in the British Open and was a prolific writer on the subject of golf and golf instruction. Famous Golf Links was the first golf book to provide a detailed accounts and illustrations of famous British golf courses. Hutchinson is among the most respected authors of early golf books.

For more on Alex Findlay, check out that interview with his grandson at: <https://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/richard-b-findlay-june-2012/>

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