[MELBOURNE; WRESTLING] Championship wrestling souvenir of wrestlers who will wrestle for the World’s Light Heavy Weight Championship at the Stadium : season 1927 : containing autographed photographs and wrestling holds, records, weights, performances, and Australian wrestling conditions.

Melbourne : J.J. Miller [by permission of Stadiums Ltd.], [1927]. First edition. Large quarto (310 x 240 mm), original pictorial wrappers (upper wrapper with depiction of a wrestling contest, lower wrapper with Victoria Bitter beer advertisement), pp [20], including 8 tipped-in photographic portraits by Talma Studios, Melbourne, of competing wrestlers and a photographic plate illustrating wrestling holds (images courtesy of the Argus and Australasian newspapers); a few short edge tears, some indentation marks to the final leaf, else a very good copy.

Rare first edition of this spectacular early Australian wrestling publication. 

It must have sold out rapidly, as a second edition – slightly enlarged with 10 portraits and 26 pages – was issued a short time later.

The wrestlers illustrated are: Sam Clapham (England); Ted Thye (USA); Mike Yokel (USA); Billy Edwards (Canada); Al Karasick (Russia); John Kilonis (Greece); Billy Meeske (Australia); and Clarence Weber (Australia).

Rare.