Beschreibung:

MELBOURNE CRICKET CLUB 1842, The Laws of Cricket, adopted by The Melbourne Cricket Club, established 13th November 1841 , 12 pages including final blank, (stitched as issued, faded waterstain at lower fore-corner of title reducing to faint spotting on following pages), original blue wrappers (frayed at spine, faded water-stain and spotting), soft fold creases, sm. 8vo [15.7 x 10.6 cm], printed by R.J.Howard, "Herald" Office, 1841 UNRECORDED. THE EARLIEST KNOWN AUSTRALIAN SPORTING CODE RULE BOOK AND ONE OF THE EARLIEST WORKS PRINTED IN MELBOURNE, IT IS ALSO THE EARLIEST KNOWN PRINTED WORK RELATING TO THE MELBOURNE CRICKET CLUB, WHEN MELBOURNE WAS ONLY 6 YEARS OLD. Very few known earlier documents exist. The La Trobe Library holds a manuscript list of the five founding members of the Melbourne Cricket Club dated 1838. This was the earliest form of the Club, known as the Melbourne Union Cricket Club, for the 1838-39 season. The Club apparently lapsed and re-formed for the following two seasons. When the Club was re-formed, for the third time, in November 1841 it was called both the Australian Cricket Club and The Australian Cricket Club. Very few records exist of these early years of the Club. The earliest Minute Book in the Club's collection is dated October 1847-March 1852. Until the discovery of the present wotk, the earliest known version was printed in 1846, sold in these rooms, lot 601, 17 April 2000, now in the collection of the MCG