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ODD, GILBERT: : The FIGHTING BLACKSMITH: The Story of Bob Fitzsimmons

LONDON.PELHAM BOOKS LTD.,1976.

ISBN 072070927X.

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED+dedicated,1st edn.VG++/VG+.No owner inscrptn but author's neat,handwritten blue ink inscrptn thus: 'To Henry Birchnall Yours in Sport Gilbert Odd',and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,wrap-around cream/white background with a b/w photographic contemporary print [Fitzsimmons knocking out Peter Maher at Langtry,Texas,in 1896,the fight lasting 95 seconds],illustrated front of dw/dj,with calligraphic black-lettered 'The' to start of title and similarly coloured+lettered sub-title and author name also; the remainder of main title,i.e FIGHTING BLACKSMITH,in capitalised black-lettering with red decoration embellishment; spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+lettered part title+author name as front's,and publisher's capitalised,black-lettered name to foot of same,rear panel with subject's contemporary b/w portrait photograph with his handwritten inscrptn.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - head of spine/backstrip with minimal bumping and reciprocal creases and miniscule chipping - but no other major nicks,tears or splits present.Top edges though very lightly aged/toned are clean without foxing/spotting,fore-edges also bright, crisp and clean without foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - virtually or near pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread other than my own collation.Publisher's bright, crisp,unblemished,sharp-cornered original plain red cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettering,and immaculate plain white endpapers author's inscrptn excepted.UK,slim 8vo HB+ dw/dj,1st edn,9-264pp [paginated] includes a Foreword by Len Harvey (a British boxer), author's Introduction,18 chapters with 16pp of subject's contemporary b/w biographical photographs - the majority - and other b/w scenic location photographs interspersed throughout the text and the book,a Bibliography, Appendices (I-III - the 3rd being a b/w facsimile reproduction of subject's birth certificate,and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title with author other titles to its reverse,title page,Contetns list/table with a dedication for Winston Graham (Cornish writer who loved Cornwall and wrote a short story about Fitzsimmons) to its reverse,and an Illustrations list/table with Acknowledgements to its reverse.   Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable,and particularly internally,the book is in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 47-year-old age.It is only the minimal exterior faults describedthat prevents a slightly higher overall grading.Despite them,it really is still an exemplary example for its cleanliness,and lack of major detracting faults.Added with the book's scarcity and even more so with the author's signature and dedication too.            Born in Helston,Cornwall in 1863 Bob "Ruby Robert" Fitzimmons went on to become the first man and only European born boxer ever to hold world titles at three different weights.          At the age of 9 Fitzimmons and his family emigrated 12,000 miles to Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand. Upon leaving school Robert went to work at his brother Jarrett's forge and became a blacksmith.No doubt the strength gained from his profession helped with his boxing.                                     Once established as a serous boxer Fitzsimmons moved to Sydney,Australia where he spent several years. But for the recognition and money that Bob desired there was only one place, the United States.It didn't take him long to make his mark in America and on the 14th January 1891,aged 28 years old he won the World Middleweight title by knocking out Jack Dempsey in thirteen rounds in New Orleans.However,it was in 1897 that Fitzimmons made his place in the annals of sport by beating 'Gentleman' Jim Corbett at Carson City,Nevada and taking the World Heavyweight Championship by knockout.Fitzsimmons acknowledged his own success and said he had done pretty well for a boxer who was only really a middleweight.Fitz lost his title 2 and a half years later to James J Jefferies when he was knocked out in the 11th round. Jefferies was 13 years his junior and went on to dominate the sport for nearly a decade.Despite losing his title Fitzsimmons continued to fight and in 1903 went 20 rounds in San Fransisco to win the new World Light Heavyweight Championship. In 1914, at the age of fifty one Bob Fitsimmons retired. He died three years later of influenza in Chicago.                                          Gilbert Odd (b. 1902 – d. 12th May,1996) was a British boxing historian and sportswriter and as such,had written literally hundreds of articles on boxing for various publications,in addition to publishing over a dozen books of which this is the 8th.He had also published a biography of Len Harvey,'Len Harvey: Prince of Boxers', who provided the Foreword in this the Fitzsimmons book. Odd boxed briefly as an amateur,then at 18 turned his sights on the sports writing side of the game,becoming a ringside correspondent for the weekly magazine,Boxing. Starting in 1941 and continuing for ten years after,he served as Editor in Chief of Boxing News,the successor to Boxing. In 1944,he began assisting in the publication of The Boxers Annual,which compiled the records of both professional and amateur boxers.In addition,he began the publication of a similar record book,the Boxing News Authors' and Record Book.Throughout the process of compiling and publishing these records,Odd became known as the best boxing historian in England.            Odd was also a member of the British Boxing Board of Control from 1961-1969 and became a founding member of the Boxing Writers' Club. He also is the only journalist to be made an honorary member of the National Sporting Club. Odd was enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995. He retired to Northiam, East Sussex,England,where he lived until his death in 1996.                       Leaonard Austen Harvey (b. 11th July,1907 – d.  28th November,1976) was a British boxer.A great defensive boxer,he boxed at every weight division available at the time,from flyweight to heavyweight.He became the light-heavyweight and heavyweight champion of the British Empire,and was recognised as world light-heavyweight champion in Britain from 1939 to 1942.Harvey was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the class of 2008.                        Please contact seller,because of the lighter weight and item's value,for correct and (optional) insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!                  N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.    ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **  

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,author SIGNED+ dedicated,1st edn.
Author SIGNED+dedicated.

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