The New York Public Library's digitial collection is a treasure trove of unique and interesting images, many of which are available for use by the public. Tucked away inside our digital collections is an absolutely terrific set of Association Football Cigarette Cards from the early days of English football (Association Football=soccer).

The cigarette cards, which are part of the George Arents Collection, are just a small part of a far larger collection that now totals well over 125,000 individual items. In addition to caricatures of a number of famous (and not so famous) English soccer teams, the collection also includes individual players cards and roster cards of winning teams.

Each card contains the caricature and a brief description of the club, which includes the origin its nickname derived from and the club's original grounds. Individual players' cards contain roster information. Take a look at a few of the items below. You can also view the larger collection, where you'll find all types of historical items.