315

Henry Chadwick.

Handbook of Winter Sports.

New York: Beadle & Adams, [1879]
59, [9] pages including wrappers. 12mo, 6¼ x 4 inches, original pictorial wrappers, minimal wear.

The author Henry Chadwick was an editor of the New York Clipper and known as the "Father of Baseball" for his early promotional efforts.  Here he turns his attention to winter sports: ice skating, roller skating, rink-ball, curling, ice-boating, and "American football," which was just starting to separate itself from rugby during this time on college campuses. Its rules and a diagram are given on pages 51 to 59. The rear wrapper has illustrations for three models of "English imported foot balls"; the "American Ball" is round and looks approximately like a basketball.

Pages 30 to 33 are devoted to baseball played on ice skates, a fad which never really took hold, as it was apparently a terrible sport. 1860s box scores featuring the champion Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn and the famous Wright brothers on ice are featured. Those familiar with Chadwick's moralizing baseball reportage will be unsurprised to find an essay on "a Moral View of Skating." 

None traced at auction since 1962.  

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