COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS

A HISTORY OF YALE ATHLETICS
1840-1888
by Richard M. Hurd, Yale Class of 1888
New Haven, Conn.: Yale University, 1888.

The scope of sporting books at The National Sporting Library was recently broadened when John H. Daniels, an NSL Director and sporting book collector, donated a rare copy of A History of Yale Athletics.

Yale Athletics is hardbound with blue cloth boards and gilt lettering. The title page states that it gives "every contest with Harvard, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Columbia, Wesleyan and others in Rowing, Foot Ball, Base Ball, Track Athletics, Tennis." The book contains two photographs and four drawings.

For each sport, Hurd summarizes the period previous to intercollegiate competition, then gives more detailed reports for the later years. At the end of each section, he lists the games played, the scores and players of the games.

Hurd writes excellent reports of the later events. For 1881 football, he notes, "The game with Princeton was played on the Polo Grounds, on Thanksgiving Day. Owing to a very strong wind, there was a great deal of rushing but little kicking...Both teams played well, yet Yale exhibited a superior game, by forcing Princeton to make four 'touch-in-goals' in the first half, and in not losing the ball once during the second half, and in keeping it in Princeton's territory despite the adverse conditions."

1881 Foot Ball - Yale vs Princeton

Yale Athletics is a real treasure for historians of college sports and for any fan of Yale University sports.