This series forms an encyclopedic record of British athletic, sporting, and rural pursuits from the late Victorian and Edwardian eras through the interwar period. Compiled and edited by the staff of The Sportsman (and later Sporting Life), it was issued by subscription and typically comprises sixteen large folio volumes, each devoted to a specific discipline including Racing, Hunting, Cricket and Football, Yachting, Shooting and Deerstalking, and Big Game Hunting. Distinguished by its high production values, the volumes were conceived as prestige reference works. The series is especially valued for its illustrations, comprising hundreds of high-quality photogravure plates and engravings documenting the “lineaments” and lives of the British sporting elite. Earlier volumes rely heavily on gravures after oil portraits and engraved sources, while later thematic volumes increasingly draw upon original photographic negatives. Notable examples include Hunting (1912) with 127 plates, Shooting and Deerstalking (1913) with 105 plates, and Big Game Hunting (1914) with 62 plates depicting trophy specimens and field camps in East Africa and India. Portraits are frequently credited to leading London studios such as Vandyk, Elliott & Fry, Bassano Ltd., and Lafayette, while the action and field plates reflect the work of specialist sporting and expedition photographers. The photogravures were produced by firms including Emery Walker Ltd. and Allen & Co. (London). Issued in limited subscription editions, with print runs generally limited to one thousand sets, the series remains a landmark of British sporting publishing and an essential resource for historians, collectors, and bibliophiles. Each volume was released in a limited edition of 1,000 copies, though a more exclusive "Royal Edition" bound in blue morocco was restricted to 250 copies.

The composite photogravure plate here, Field Trial Winners 1900, is located in the Shooting and Deerstalking (1913) volume of the series. While the volume contains a total of 359 pages of text, this specific full-page plate is situated within Chapter III, titled "Sporting Dogs," authored by B. J. Warwick. In the standard limited edition, this plate is positioned between pages 154 and 155, serving as a visual centerpiece for the discussion on the evolution of pointers and setters in field competition. The layout features six distinct photographic portraits, which are identified through detailed sub-captions providing the names of the dogs and the specific trials they won at Chatsworth and the Kennel Club between 1899 and 1900.