Middleburg’s National Sporting Library Shows Off in the Federal City

Horse and hunt country lovers traveled from as far as Middleburg, Va., as well as nearby Georgetown to the Kalorama townhouse of the Johnsons for a cocktail reception to benefit the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, May 19. The library’s board chairman Manuel (Manley) Johnson and vice chairman Jacqueline Badger Mars served as event hosts.

With its historic buildings and grounds, the Middleburg non-profit boasts the finest collection of books on horse and field sports in the world. “It is the largest collection of rare books in equine and fishing sports books,” Johnson told the crowd, which included Tom McMillen, former U.S. representative from Maryland and retired NBA basketball player, Scott Wilson, Hector Alcade and Robin Phillips. The library holds a 1683 first edition of ‘The Compleat Angler” along with essays on hunting from Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland and extensive photos of President John Kennedy in Middleburg. The National Sporting Library Gala is scheduled for October.