Football

Two teams, one in blue shirts and the other in red-and-white stripes, play a ball game on what appears to be the grounds of a British public school. The scene captures a moment when most of the players are clustered tightly around the ball.

Though this illustration is featured in the football chapter of the source volume, Percy Muir’s Victorian Illustrated Books identifies it as “The rugger match.” This reading is supported by the goalposts’ shape and the players’ formation, which resembles a rugby scrum. We follow Mr. Muir's attribution of this artwork to J. M. Kronheim and extend it to the remaining illustrations in this volume.