New Bodleian publication: The Original Rules of Tennis

"Bodleian Library Publishing has partnered with The All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon to reproduce the first rules of the game. John Barrett's introduction looks at the fascinating story of the origins and evolution of tennis, from its incarnation as Jeu de Paume in medieval and renaissance courts to the present day. The Bodleian Library holds a number of early rules of tennis. This book reprints in full the first two rules of the game from 1874 and 1878 as well as detailing the many alterations since then, including lowering the net height three times, introducing advantage sets in 1884, and banning the technique of double stringing, the spaghetti racket, in 1978"