Tom Sayers vs John Heenan, the first world title fight.

Are you sure you are talking about the Fights for the championship, compiled from Bell's Life, not from "Licensed Victuallers' Gazette"? Because the Bell's life one should be dated 1855 or thereabouts and is much harder to find (i have one, and it costed me a lot of money), than Fred Henning's 2 volumes from 1902 or thereabouts (possibly another edition could be printed earlier, thus the 1898 you mentioned).

 

It reads as follows"Fights For The Championship"
Celebrated Prize Battles
Or Accounts Of
All the prize battles for the Championship from the days of Figg and Broughton to the present time
And Also of Many Other Game And Extraordinary Battles Between First rate Pugilists of Ancient and Modern times.
Compiled From "Bells Life In London," "Boxiana"
and other original sources. By The Editor Of Bell's Life In London.

LONDON
published at Bell's Life Office 170 Strand,and sold by all bok sellers
price seve shillings and sixpence.,by post eight shillings.

Under that is a date 185 ? and a small ink mark obscures the last digit.
The book is hard back around 450 pages in good condition.

 

Ok then, so the date is not 1898. My copy has 410 pages though. Does your copy have 18 chapters (not counting introduction and conclusion)?

 

Overall, that book is an excellent source for anything that took place after 1822, when the Bell's Life in London started reporting sports. Prior to that year it borrows reports from Boxiana or other sources, and while Pierce Egan's work is held in high esteem, but the author's flights of fancy often went too far, he was alike Nat Fleischer in this regard, never too shy to twist the facts or create his own.
Boxing prior to 1790 has been researched little, and Figg's and Broughton's era even less so, why we still have a fight between Whitaker and The Venetian, together with preliminary exhibition between Figg and Broughton, dated May 6, 1733, even though that fight had taken place no later than 1726. Or the idea that Broughton retired from the ring for the rest of his life after his loss to Slack, although he did fight again at least once in April 1767, against an unnamed farmer (which I found, by accident, a little time ago, in one London newspaper).

 

Yes 18 chapters,of 410 pages ,then an appendix -conclusion.

 

Then our books are identical. The year of printing is 1855. Excellent source of first-hand reports of great fights (at least the 1822+ ones). Bell's Life had the best prize fight reporters of all newspapers of that time.

 

Mine was bought by a friend at a second hand stall for 50p was that too dear? 50p is half an English pound.

 

Abebooks is selling a copy for £172