The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England. Including the Rural and Domestic Recreations, May Games, Mummeries, Shows, Processions, Pageants, and Pompous Spectacles, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time (1830)

'A New Edition, With A Copious Index by William Hone. Illustrated By One Hundred And Forty Engravings, in which are represented most of the Popular Diversions; Selected from Ancient Paintings'. 1830 on the title page. There is some light spotting on the first few pages entirely disappearing after that. There was one dark spot on the middle page edge (see fifth photo) but that does not affect any of the actual pages. The pages in this book are exceptionally clean. And they are Bright! The only writing in the book is an old signature from a previous owner on the first front end paper. There aren't any markings in the book. No bookplates. No attachments. There aren't any dogeared corners. The pages are in excellent condition, supple and tight. The text is very solidly bound, absolutely no issues. You can see the covers in the first three photographs. They're pretty clean. There's only mild scuffing on the edges and bottom corners. The top two corners have just a small spot of rub-through. You should also be able to see that there is a little space between the covers and the spine. Neither cover is detached. A narrow crack can be seen at the top between the front inside cover and first front end paper if you tilt your head down to the level of the book. It covers about 1/4 of the length of the cover. There are no other cracks visible from the inside over the remaining 3/4's. Looking again from the second front end paper you can see a crack at the bottom that probably comes up about 1/3rd of the way up. And if you pull the front cover from the side away from the spine it is giving a little bit, particularly at the bottom 1/3rd. So I can honestly say that I've opened and closed the front cover a dozen times without causing any issue, but I can't offer 100% assurance that it might not become detached at some point. For sport or pastime I would not recommend playing catch with it. The rear cover has a smaller crack at the top between the inside cover and last rear end paper. But from the second rear end paper if you lay the book flat and look from the side there's a crack that goes from top to bottom. That being said, the rear cover feels pretty solidly attached and doesn't have much give. And again, I'm opening and closing both of these covers and it has had absolutely no effect on either. There isn't a sense of fragility, but prudence would demand that you handled the covers mindfully. Even though you should be able to see this on your own, I didn't mention that there is a small loss at the bottom of the spine and above the black band with the title you can see the outline of an old tear. The black band and the gilt lettering are in very good shape. The few copies for sale in my price range have detached covers. Most of the 1830 copies of this title are selling for considerably more. Do some comparison shopping.