''Boxiana'' is the title given to a series of volumes of prizefighting articles written by the English sportswriter and journalist

Pierce Egan Pierce Egan (1772–1849) was a British journalist, sportswriter, and writer on popular culture. His popular book '' Life in London'', published in 1821, was adapted into the stage play '' Tom and Jerry, or Life in London'' later that year, whic ...

, and part-published by

George Smeeton George Smeeton (fl. 1800–1828) was an English printer and compiler of biographical collections. Life Smeeton rose to the proprietorship of a printing business in the neighbourhood of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields in Westminster. He became a strong ...

in the 1810s. Egan wrote magazine articles about the bareknuckle forerunner of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

, which at that time was conducted under the

London Prize Ring rules The London Prize Ring Rules were a list of boxing rules promulgated in 1838 and revised in 1853. These rules were based on those drafted by England's Jack Broughton in 1743 (known as the Broughton Rules) and governed the conduct of prizefighti ...

, and was outlawed in England. A devoted follower of boxing, Egan called it "The Sweet Science of Bruising." Periodically he would gather his boxing articles in a bound volume and publish them under the title ''Boxiana; or Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism''. The first volume was published in 1813 (although the title page reads 1812, due to the arrangement, common at the time, where the book was sent to

subscribers The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...

in installments before being released to the public.) Five more volumes followed, in 1818, 1821, 1824, 1828, and 1829. The fourth volume (1824) was by 'Jon Bee' (following a legal dispute between Egan and the publishers). The court granted Egan continued use of the ''Boxiana'' title provided that he also used the wording 'New Series'. Two volumes of Egan's ''New Series Boxiana'' were published in 1828-29.Snowdon, David, ''Writing the Prizefight: Pierce Egan's 'Boxiana' World'' (2013) Egan's writing was brought back to popular attention by the boxing articles published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

'' from 1950–1964 by

A.J. Liebling Abbott Joseph Liebling (October 18, 1904 – December 28, 1963) was an American journalist who was closely associated with ''The New Yorker'' from 1935 until his death. He was known for, among other things, the aphorism "Freedom of the press bel ...

. Liebling referenced Egan frequently and named his own first collection of boxing articles ''The Sweet Science'' in Egan's honor. (The other Liebling collection is called ''A Neutral Corner''). Volumes of ''Boxiana'' are hard to find today, though the

Folio Society The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it operates as an employee ownership trust since 2021. It produces illustrated hardback editions of classic f ...

issued a reprint of the first volume in 1976, and in 1998 Nicol Island Publishers of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

issued a reprint of the first volume and announced plans to reissue all five volumes. (As of February 2006, Nicol Island has published Volumes One, Two, and Three.)

Notes

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External links

Boxiana is viewable at Google Book Search
Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Boxing magazines Boxing in England

Notes

Further reading

External links