What is the British sporting life all about? This fine query can be answered in part by these remarkable illustrations crafted by Henry Alken during the early 19th century. Alken was a English sporting artist and he was one of the most popular of his time, known throughout the land as a chronicler of horse racing and much more. He learned at the side of his father, another regarded artist, who...
On a cold and blustery day in November 1887, a group of Chicagoans were eagerly awaiting inside the Farragut Boat Club for the telegraphed results of the Harvard-Yale football game. George W. Hancock was one of their number, and while waiting he created a game that used a boxing glove for a ball and a broomstick for a bat. This game was known as indoor base ball, and it was the predecessor to the...