I get these two questions frequently. What was the very first hockey book. And who wrote it? The answer is believed to a book called "Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game." The book, published in Montreal by C.R. Corneil, was written in 1899 and only four copies are known to still exist. Digitized versions of the book can be found at Library and Archives Canada for free. A copy, once owned by Red Fisher and used by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, now resides at Concordia University. The 122 page handbook of hockey looks mostly at strategy and how-to skills advice. Three sets of rules are also provided. Photos and drawings, including one of a female player, are scattered through-out The book was written by a star hockey player of the time around the turn of the 20th century. Arthur Farrell, a Montrealer born on February 8th, 1877, was quite the amateur player with College Sainte-Marie while studying there from 1895 to 1897. Farrell later played for t...