Historically Significant Engraving Found

A collector from the United States has shared with SIHR what is believed to be the earliest known engraving or painting depicting an ice hockey like activity on skates. The depiction of the stick and "bung" or puck are also important.

The print has the inscription "London Published by J Le Petit 22 Suffolk Street, Middlesex Hospital 1st Sep 1797" and measures 4 3/8 (height) x 3 11/16 (width) inches. It is on wove paper with no watermark and was uncovered in Maine.

Joseph Le Petit Jr. (London c. 1770 - 1858 Dublin) was a member of a French immigrant family of print publishers in England. Little is known of Le Petit, who worked between 1797 and 1820 in London and then Dublin, publishing a variety of prints.

Although the lower margin of the print has been trimmed and designer and engraver therefore are not identified, a similar 1798 print by Le Petit titled Winter, in the British Museum's collection, was drawn by the Anglo-Dutch artist Benedict Anthony van Assen (1767-c. 1817), and engraved by one Piercy Roberts. The print can be seen here.

According to the owner of the piece, it could be argued that Van Assen's drawing is similar enough for an attribution of the work to him, but Piercy Roberts' style is not as close as that of another stipple engraver who worked with Le Petit and Van Assen - his name is known only as "I. Burrows." Two prints by Burrows are located, the first published by Le Petit in 1798 and titled Crowning the Bust of Captain Cook is at Grosvenor Prints in London, and can be seen here. The second, titled Belinda, or the Billet Doux from 1794 is at the British Museum here

While more research is still required, one might assume that it is likely that the 1797 Le Petit "ice hockey" print was drawn by Van Assen and engraved by Burrows, recording what was a common-enough winter sport in the vicinity of London to garner the attention of the artists and publisher, who themselves were young men and possibly enjoyed playing the game. Of interest, the Thames froze over in the winter of 1794-95, so the little print may represent that winter.

Juvenile Sports and Pastimes, by Richard Johnson, London, 1776

Researched and Compiled by Patrick Houda and Dr. Carl Giden

This London book hides the first known contemporary use of the word hockey which predates earlier findings by 25 years. Johnson's work describes a number of games for children and includes the chapter "New Improvements on the Game of Hockey". In six pages the author gives the rules of the game and hints about how to make the best hockey-sticks, goals and bungs. This chapter also has the first known illustration of the game on ground.

Besides this - the book gives even earlier references to the game - as Johnson tells how he played hockey during his own school-days in the 1740s.

The information given in Juvenile Sports and Pastimes strengthens the view that hockey was first played by boys in the London schools during the mid-1700s, and from there spread over the rest of the British Empire.

Stick and Ball Game Timeline

Researched and Compiled by Patrick Houda and Dr. Carl Giden

Unlike the SIHR Origins Report, which sought to identify the first organized game of hockey, the purpose of this timeline is to clarify the evolution of early stick and ball games, played on both ground and ice - until those became more distinctly separated from each other.

One of the objectives is to show that despite many different names, those games were seen as pretty much the same by contemporary sources - a fact not entirely known and accepted by modern historians.

The Preview document is available publicly, while the complete Timeline is exclusively available to SIHR members. To date, we have included about 400 notes, but more are being researched. Our intention is to regularly update the documents with new content as it is uncovered.

We welcome all questions, comments, objections and contributions. Non-members are asked to contact us by using the email form found here and selecting Hockey Timeline from the subject menu.