Soccer / Ball Games / Horseback Riding / Performances - Lot 95

Soccer / Ball Games / Horseback Riding / Performances Two printed documents from the 18th century and the First Empire: - A police ordinance prohibiting “beggars, vagrants, people of ill repute, night owls, ball players in public squares, and idle loafers from taking shelter at the Hôpital Saint-Gervais.” Excerpt from the records of the clerk’s office of the Police Chamber of the Châtelet in Paris, 1768, report by Attorney Louis-Henri Auret de la Grave. Vignette featuring the royal coat of arms, 4 pages (25 x 19 cm) - Bulletin des lois, No. 98 (No. 1396): Laws and decrees relating to taxes levied on public entertainment. Decree of 9 Fructidor, Year IX (August 27, 1801), extending for Year X the taxes levied on public performances, balls, concerts, races, horse shows, and other public festivities. Signed by Bonaparte, First Consul, Hugues B. Maret, and Chaptal. Paris, Law Registry. 4 pages (stains) Under Louis XV, the police classified ball players in public squares in the same category as vagrants and night owls. This provides insight into how ball games were perceived at the time—a far cry from the image of modern sports. Under the Consulate, horse races and equestrian displays were taxed in the same manner as performances and balls: they were considered forms of public entertainment.