Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/496918
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 8 0 The situation at Yale dates back almost a century, but more recently a similar effort to create and house a representative collection of outdoor literature, albeit on a far smaller scale, involved the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) donation of its accumulated library to the University of Montana- Missoula. Although the initiative got off to a promising start, a major rift in the ranks of OWAA hurt the venture and killed much of its momentum. Eventually, OWAA sold its Missoula headquarters and moved much of its operation, including the executive director's office, elsewhere. Once that geographical footprint was gone, the library effort seemed doomed. To my knowledge, there have been no additions to the collection, and neither the University of Montana nor the OWAA seem interested in the project. F inally though, students of America's sporting history and literature have an environment for concentrated study, a place to gain access to vital and historic materials, and best of all, a library that dedicates serious effort to preserving a unique and supremely important part of our national heritage. The NSLM offers promise of all of this and more. While this is not the place to go into any detail on the evolution of the NSLM, suffice it to say that generous donors, a far-sighted board, and a cadre of capable and dedicated employees have made a most promising beginning. If this trend continues for the next decade or so, I think the sporting world will be beating a path to the NSLM campus—and I use the word campus deliberately, because with its handsome buildings, aesthetically appealing grounds, fellow's cottage, and seamless integration into a lovely little town, the site is reminiscent of the setting for a small but respected liberal arts institution. The NSLM is a place of the mind, a venue for wonderful works of sporting art, and a haven for those who firmly believe, as I do, that a sportsman cannot know where he is going if he does not know where he has been. Currently, there are some 24,000 volumes in the NSLM collection, with its greatest strengths being in upland field sports, fly fishing, conservation, and especially equestrian pursuits. When it comes to all things connected to the horse—steeplechasing, foxhunting, horsemanship, stud books, and other equine-related subjects—there is probably no comparable holding anywhere. Certainly, there is none as readily accessible and user-friendly. For breeders and students of breeding history, the extensive stud records and archival holdings related to horses are invaluable. Other areas of appreciable depth include beagling, sporting history, and a solid working collection of general books on the outdoors. In my view, if the NSLM desires to expand its coverage of sport, it should turn its attention to subjects that include American big-game hunting, waterfowling, angling with baitcasting and spin-fishing gear, and hunting and fishing on the international scene. In addition to books, the NSLM has noteworthy manuscript holdings and long runs of important early sporting periodicals. The opportunity to peruse magazines, issue by issue, volume by volume, seeking long forgotten articles, was highly useful. My previous experiences in this regard have involved searching for dust-laden prisoners held in glass- fronted cages or confined to dimly lit library stacks. Not at the NSLM. Instead, I located obscure magazine articles, scores of them, not only by Rutledge but other major literary figures of yesteryear. Doing so in a clean, well-lit reading room with movable stacks In addition to 24,000 volumes in its library, the NSLM hosts exhibits of sporting art (with displays rotating periodically) and houses early sporting periodicals.