Frank A Gotch: World's Champion Wrestler 1913 ~ scarce First Edition ~ wrestling biography

Title: Frank A. Gotch: World's Champion Wrestler: His Life, Mat Battles and Instructions on How to Wrestle

Author: Compiled and Edited by Joseph B. Bowles

Description: First Edition. Original brown cloth with blue title and pictorial on front cover. Moderate general wear and some minor soiling to covers; one bottom corner exposed. Lightly shaken. Rear hinge cracked. Interior is unmarked. One leaf has a small hole that effaces a couple words (the missing text is lightly penciled in). Illustrated with 50 photographs (many full page) and 13 cartoon illustrations. 256 pages. 7.25 x 5 inches. A scarce first edition.

Detailed career retrospective of professional wrestler Frank Gotch (1877-1917), the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion from 1908 to 1913, which also incorporates some biographical material. It tells the stories of many of his important matches, providing interesting historical context as well as descriptions of the action. Concludes with 39-page Instructions on How to Wrestle, with ''his combinations and other holds as explained to the author by Gotch, his manager Emil Klank, Farmer Burns, and others''. Includes a list of all of Gotch's important matches between April 1899 and April 1913, noting date, place, and opponent.

Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good

Publisher: Joseph B. Bowles
Place: Chicago
Year: 1913

Keywords: wrestling, biography, history, Martin Burns, Farmer Burns, Dan McLeod, George Hackenschmidt, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Ben Roller,