168 - Wrestling / Paul Pons / Golden Belt

Wrestling / Paul Pons / Golden Belt A collection of materials on the great champion Paul PONS (1864–1915), including: - The book *La Lutte* by Paul PONS, 1912, published by Pierre Lafitte Cie, Sports-Bibliothèque collection, 380 pages, publisher’s binding. Written by the champion himself, it covers wrestling in France, Switzerland, Japan, and Turkey. Supplemented by Dr. O’Followel’s medical journal - “La Dépêche Illustrée,” January 15, 1899, issue, with a color front-page illustration depicting the match between PONS and Pytlasinski during the “World Wrestling Championship.” The renowned Toulouse daily celebrated wrestling before soccer or rugby, as wrestling was then the quintessential southern and virile sport - “La Vie au Grand Air,” 2 issues: December 6, 1902, and January 7, 1904. In the first issue, which has no cover, Paul Pons and Raoul le Boucher are competing for the Golden Belt; in the second, featuring a beautiful color cover of the final match between Pons and Petersen for the famous trophy. The towering Paul Pons (1864–1915), a native of Sorgues, was the leading figure in wrestling during the Belle Époque, and an acquaintance of the Vermot firm, which had the privilege of selling his famous and historic Golden Belt, now part of the collections of the National Museum of Sports.