On the outside edge

First published in 1897, On the Outside Edge is a clever and insightful introduction to the history of ice skating. It begins by tracing the development of ice skates from bone skates to the type of skate used in nineteenth-century England. Then, it describes the development of figure skating in Europe in the nineteenth century. Some of Fowler’s insights into the history of ice skating are stunning; he points out errors that continue to appear in histories of skating to this day.