3. (general.)—The copy of words to which music is set; the words of a
play; formerly only applied to the libretto of an opera.
1768. Sterne, Sentimental Journey, I., 180. A small pamphlet, it
might be the book of the opera.
1889. Answers, 8 June, p. 24. The prompter had a little table on
the ‘prompt’ side; that is, the right-hand side looking from the
house, and his ‘book’ was one mass of directions, the margins being
covered with little pictures and diagrams of the stage, showing the
positions of the leading actors in every scene.
To know one’s book, phr. (popular).—To have made up one’s mind; to know
what is best for one’s interest.
c. 1879. Broadside Ballad, ‘Ain’t you glad you didn’t.’
Ain’t you glad sometimes to know,
A second thought you took,
About a subject upon which
You thought you knew your book;
Now first of all you think you will,
And then you think you won’t,
While someone says ‘Go in and win!’
And someone else says ‘Don’t.’
To suit one’s book, phr. (common).—To suit one’s arrangements. Cf.,
Book, subs., sense 1, the allusion being to betting books, in which
bets are formally entered.
1852. F. E. Smedley, Lewis Arundel, ch. vi. ‘By which time he
expects to be so hard up that he must marry somebody, and as there
will be plenty of the needful, she will suit his book as well as
any other.’
Booked, ppl. adj. (common).—Caught; fixed; disposed of; destined, etc.
From the book-keeping term—entered in a book, or registered.
1840. Hood, Up the Rhine, p. 6. I am booked for a much longer
journey.
1857. Snowden, Mag. Assistant, 3 ed., p. 446. Booked, caught,
taken, or disposed of.
1881. Jas. Payn, Grape from a Thorn, ch. xxiii. ‘I don’t remember
anyone having given me an “engaged ring” before; and it’s not leap
year, neither. However, the lady’s booked, which is a great
relief.’
French thieves use être planché for ‘to be booked’; also être mort
(i.e., ‘to be dead’); the adjective is rendered by faitré, and the
person booked is un gerbable.
Book-Form, subs. (sporting).—The relative powers of speed or endurance
of race-horses as set down in the Racing Calendar or ‘book.’
Bookie or Booky, subs. (sporting).—An abbreviated form of bookmaker
(q.v.).
1885. Eng. Ill. Mag., April, p. 509. No rowdy ring, but a few quiet
and well-known bookies, who were ready enough to lay the odds to a
modest fiver.
1889. Sporting Times, 29 June.
He now had occasion to speedily hie
To the bookie who laid him the bet,
Who was one of the small and particular fry,
That at times, when convenient, forget.
Bookmaker, subs. (sporting).—The English Encyclopædia says:—In betting
there are two parties—one called ‘layers,’ as the bookmakers are
termed, and the other ‘backers,’ in which class may be included owners
of horses as well as the public. The backer takes the odds which the
bookmaker lays against a horse, the former speculating upon the success
of the animal, the latter upon its defeat; and taking the case of
Cremorne for the Derby of 1872, just before the race, the bookmaker
would have laid 3 to 1, or perhaps £1000 to £300 against him, by which
transaction, if the horse won, as he did, the backer would win £1000
for risking £300, and the bookmaker lose the £1000 which he risked to
win the smaller sum. At first sight this may appear an act of very
questionable policy on the part of the bookmaker; but really it is not
so, because so far from running a greater risk than the backer, he runs
less, inasmuch as it is his plan to lay the same amount (£1000) against
every horse in the race, and as there can be but one winner, he would
in all probability receive more than enough money from the many losers
to pay the stated sum of £1000 which the chances are he has laid
against the one winner, whichever it is.—See also Book, subs., sense 1,
and Bookie.
1862. London Review, Aug. 30, p. 188. Betting there seemed to be
none ... we could not perceive a single book or bookmaker.
1880. W. Day, Racehorse in Training, ch. xxiv., p. 245. Bookmakers
pursue a legitimate and lucrative trade by laying against all
horses as they appear in the market.
1883. Hawley Smart, Hard Lines, ch. iii. Finding ... that the
bookmaker whom for once they have landed for ‘a thousand to thirty’
is hopelessly insolvent.
Bookmaker’s Pocket, subs. (sporting).—A breast-pocket made inside the
waistcoat, for notes of large amount.—Hotten.—See Bookmaker.
Books, subs. (card-players’).—1. A pack of cards. A term used mainly by
professional card-players. Also called devil’s books; book of broads;
book of briefs. The French equivalent is un juge de paix; while une
cartouchière à portées is a prepared pack used by sharpers.
1706. Mrs. Centlivre, Basset Table, IV., ii., wks. (1872) I., 245.