Books

subs. (card-players’).—1.  A pack of cards: used mainly by professional card-players: also DEVIL’S BOOKS; BOOK OF BOARDS; BOOK OF BRIEFS; Fr. juge de paix.

  1706.  CENTLIVRE, The Basset-Table, IV., ii., Wks. (1872) i., 245.

  2.  (Winchester College), (a). The prizes formerly presented by Lord Say and Sele, now given by the governing body, to the ‘Senior’ in each division at the end of ‘Half.’ (b). The school is thus divided:—Sixth Book—Senior and Junior Division; the whole of the rest of the School is in Fifth Book—Senior Part, Middle Part, Junior Part, each part being divided into so many divisions, Senior, Middle, and Junior, or Senior, 2nd, 3rd, and Junior, as the case may require. Formerly there was also ‘Fourth Book,’ but it ceased to exist about twenty-five years ago (1840). (c). UP AT BOOKS = in class, repeating lessons: now called UP TO BOOKS. (d). BOOKS CHAMBERS, on Remedies (a kind of whole holiday).

  1876.  MANSFIELD, School-Life at Winchester College, 104. The school was divided into three classes, or BOOKS, as they were called. Of these, the Præfects formed one; SIXTH BOOK. FIFTH BOOK was sub-divided into three parts, called respectively, ‘Senior, Middle, and Junior part of the Fifth’; in speaking of them, the words, ‘of the Fifth’ were generally omitted. The rest of the boys made up ‘Fourth Book.’ Ibid., 101. At each end of school are three tiers of benches rising gradually one above the other,—that on the ground being called ‘Senior Row,’ and the others, ‘Middle,’ and ‘Junior Row’ respectively. On these the Classes sit when ‘UP AT BOOKS,’ i.e., when repeating lessons. Ibid., 103. On Remedies (a kind of whole holiday), we also went into School in the morning and afternoon for an hour or two without masters; this was called BOOKS CHAMBERS; and on Sundays, from four till a quarter to five.

  TO GET or MAKE BOOKS, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To make the highest score at anything.