Kicking The American Football (Only Signed Copy) (Inscribed to Lou Little) (Then Signed and Inscribed by Lou Little)

Leroy N. Mills

Edité par G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1936

A propos de cet article

Stated 'Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. First, this book was signed and inscribed by the author to the one-time coach at Georgetown University and then, for 26 years, at Columbia University, Lou Little. The inscription reads: 'To my friend-- Lou Little-- with kindest regards and best wishes-- Leroy N. Mills, 8/8/36.' Below that you'll see the second signed inscription. It reads: 'To Charlie Swift Jr., may he develop to All-America stature. Bob Harron and I are sure he will. Perhaps I may have the privilege of being his coach. Good luck always, Lou Little.' I have rated the book only Good due to the slight discoloration from water exposure on the front and rear, as well as the rippling of the cloth on the front. The word 'friend' in the first inscription was also affected, and the signed page has some underlying tanning. The rear inside cover also has a water stain at three of its corners, and the facing blank rear end paper has some very light discoloration as well. A few of the early pages have a light, receded bit of amber foxing. However, from the Introduction pages to the book's last page, it's all terrific, very clean, no foxing or spotting, and no soiling. After 182 pages of text there is a section titled Illustrations And Diagrams. There are 23 pages of photographs followed by five pages of Diagrams. All of these pages are in very good condition. Beside not seeing any soiling, I'm not seeing any creasing anywhere. There are no markings. No attachments of any kind. And the aforementioned signatures and inscriptions represent the only writing to be found in the book. The book is square and the spine is straight. The binding is very solid from cover to cover with nicely tight pages throughout and nicely tight covers as well. This book has been described as 'the best book ever to be written on the subject of kicking in football.' On the American Football Kicking Hall Of Fame site I found the following description of the author: 'American football kicking strategy changed completely because a New York lawyer, Leroy N. Mills, made a hobby of applying all the mathematics and physics he knew to the prolate spheroid (football), with the result being that the punt became an offensive weapon. In 1932 Mills, a former punter from Princeton, wrote Kicking the American Football, the first full-length book on the subject. It was Mills, in fact, who coined the phrase 'coffin corner' to describe the sideline inside an opponents 10, in the area where the opposition could effectively be 'buried.' Mills was recognized as the first outstanding kicking instructor in the country. He doctored the punting of back-lot teams and mediocre high schools. Great head coaches camped on his trail. However, for his advice he would not take a dime. In 1935, at the age of 52, he could still outkick most of his pupils, and many stories circulated of his ability to punt the ball so accurately that he used a handkerchief for a target.' Lou Little was the captain of his Leominster High School football team in 1910, his senior season. The team, led by Little's stellar play, was Leominster's first undefeated football team. Little went on to play one postgraduate season for the Worcester Academy Hilltoppers in 1911 before returning to coach his alma mater for one season in 1912. He played college football as a tackle at the University of Pennsylvania for the 1916 and 1919 seasons and then with the professional football team the Frankford Yellow Jackets from 1920 to 1923. He served as the head coach at Georgetown College, now Georgetown University, from 1924 to 1929 and at Columbia University from 1930 to 1956, compiling a career college football record of 151-128-13. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1960. He appeared as Lu Libble in Jack Kerouac's novel Maggie Cassidy, a fictionalized account of Kerouac's early life.'.

N° de réf. du vendeur 004903

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Kicking The American Football (Only Signed Copy) (Inscribed to Lou Little) (Then Signed and Inscribed by Lou Little)
• Éditeur: G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York
• Date de parution: 1936
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Illustrateur: Illustrated with Photographs 'Posed Expressly For This Book'
• État de l'article: Good
• Signé: Signed by Author(s)
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • One-Of-A-Kind
  • Crème de la crème
  • Signed Sports