Oh, I sayeth! How tennis was played... in the 1540s
THANKS to the wonders of modern technology, tennis fans can watch every serve, backhand and ground stroke in super-slow motion, closeup and on repeat.
But in the 1540s, things were a little different, as these printed images show.
The pictures, which are the earliest known sketches of a tennis match, feature two bearded men hitting a tennis ball between them with small, stringed racquets.
The scene appears to be in surroundings that closely resemble a real tennis court, such as the one at Falkland Palace i n Fife, built between 1539 and 1541 for King James V, which is the oldest court in the world still in use.
The images – including one in which a player appears to be wearing a white skip cap similar to those popular today – were discovered in Guillaume de La Perrière’s book, Le Théâtre des Bons Engins, published in Paris by Denis Janot in 1540.
The book – translated into English as The Theatre of Fine Devices – was acquired by Glasgow University’s Special Collections Library as part of the renowned Stirling Maxwell Collection of books and works of art, and contains a series of images representing lessons for life.
The message is that life is like a tennis match and you must play hard.
The game is described as a ‘jeu de paume’ or ‘game of palms’ and is thought to have been played with the palm of the hand until racquets became standard.
Laurence Grove, Professor of French and director of the Stirling Maxwell Centre, said: ‘The images are clearly of a jeu de paume and these are the earliest printed images of such a match.
‘Although the text describes this as a “jeu de paume”, it clearly shows players were using racquets by 1540. These are pictures of tennis before the word existed.’
Professor Grove added: ‘Part of the fun of history is it allows us to connect with what’s happening today. By having the world’s best collection of picture books we can compare the images of yesteryear with those of Andy Murray today.’
The book is on display as part of the university’s ‘ Emblems and Everyday Life’ conference for leading academics and researchers.
Jeu de paume originated in France. Gloves, then paddle bats, were eventually introduced, and the game finally became known as tennis, from which today’s lawn tennis developed.