… recreational practice that not only promoted social interaction and gentlemanly conviviality, but also challenged sociability and friendship. This specific object can be considered as the physical expression of the practice of betting … practice that not only promoted social interaction and gentlemanly conviviality, but also challenged the rules of sociability and friendship. Available in London gentlemen’s clubs for their members, betting books provided the written … betting book had various functions as a significant cultural marker of a fashionable social practice and as an object of sociability. The bets recorded in such a specific archival source mirror both the diverse pastimes, tastes and fashions …