Béisbol

Chicago: Forbes & Company, 1912. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First edition. Pictorial paper over boards. Fine in fine dustwrapper. An attractive and uncommon book of humorous verse about baseball, rare both in jacket and in this condition.

1865. Unbound. Very Good. Porcelain plate. Approximately 8" in diameter. Two chips to the rim not affecting the image, some wear, very good. The plate has an embossed alphabet around the inner rim, with a transfer image in brown in the center of the plate depicting a baseball game, with "American Sports" at the top of the image, and "Base Ball. Running to First Base" below the image. No back marks and undated, but consistent with German export ware of the period between 1865-1875. Very uncommon.

Mattoon, Illinois: F.L. Horn, 1878. Unbound. Near Fine. One quarto leaf folded to make four pages, apparently paginated with the previous issue: [1], 6-8pp. A small stain on the first page, else fine. An "amateur" newspaper. On page seven (the third page of the newspaper) is an advertisement that reads as follows: "Base Ball Cards! 25 for 20 cts. Special rates to clubs. State position and name of club when ordering. Agents wanted! Send 3 ct. stamp for samples. Franklin L. Horn, Mattoon, Ills." Within our own little circle of baseball scholars and enthusiasts, debate rages over the meaning of this advertisement. Some are convinced that this is an advertisement for business or trade cards, others that it indicates a previously unknown series of amateur baseball cards, and still others believing it was an advertisement for a stillborn project by the printer, abandoned with no takers. The definition of "baseball cards" is somewhat fluid. A few cabinet photographs were issued in the 1850s, and the… Leer más

New York: Office of the Commissioner Major League Baseball, 1989. Softcover. Near Fine. First edition. Quarto. Plastic comb-bound photo-duplicated pages with a clear plastic front cover and cardstock rear cover. 225pp. Handwritten copyright notice on the title leaf. A small chip and tear on the plastic front cover, page edges a bit thumbed, a near fine copy. The damning report prepared by attorney John Dowd for the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, which resulted in Pete Rose's lifetime ban from the league. This copy Inscribed by the Commissioner of Major League Baseball to a young attorney in Dowd's office: "To —, Thank you for all your help - Bart Giamatti." Purchased by us directly from the attorney, who reports that when Giamatti received the final report at Dowd's office, he offered to sign autographs for the staff, most of whom proffered baseballs. Our friend offered the report instead. Apparently later generation copies occasionally appear in the sports world, Signed by either Dowd or… Leer más

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1923. Hardcover. Very Good/Near Fine. First edition. Owner name in pencil on the front fly, a couple of small splash marks and a small sunned patch near the front gutter, a very good or better copy in near fine dustwrapper with a few very small nicks at the corners. According to McCue's *Baseball by the Books: A History and Bibliography of Baseball Fiction*: "The first novel with serious baseball content aimed at an adult audience. The book is narrated by a former sportswriter, as Broun was, in love with a free-spirited, intellectual feminist, as was Broun's wife, while she falls for a baseball player who is clearly modeled on Babe Ruth. Numerous players of the early 1920s appear by name." Broun was a noted wit and a member of the Algonquin Round Table along with Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott, and Robert Benchley. He was also close friends with the Marx Brothers. Exceptionally uncommon in any sort of reasonably attractive dustwrapper.

New York: A.S. Barnes, 1957. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. First edition. Gift inscription dated 1959, boards a bit soiled, a very good only copy in a price-clipped, good or better dustwrapper with small chips and tears. Engaging reminiscences of the game by the creator of Studs Lonigan. This copy is Inscribed at a later date to Joe DiMaggio: "To Joe DiMaggio with kind regards. James T. Farrell. Aug. 17, 1978 N.Y." DiMaggio, who is mentioned in the text, may have been forced to seek out a used copy to have it signed, and this copy has an old bookseller's price in it. Several of the books from DiMaggio's library had receipts from his hometown used bookstore, Moe's Books, in San Francisco. With a letter of provenance signed by DiMaggio's two granddaughters. *Shannon 100*.

Boston: (Boston Union Printers Baseball Association), 1912. Hardcover. Very Good. A complete run consisting of issue numbers 1-7, dated August 19 - August 25, 1912. Quarto, bound into marbled endpapers, with three-quarter morocco and cloth. Some pages with closed tears, some loose, covers worn, otherwise a very good copy. This free periodical was the official paper of the Boston Union Printers Baseball Association, published to promote the fifth annual Printers National Baseball Tournament. *OCLC* locates a single run, at the Boston Public Library.

Unbound. Very Good. Typed Letter Signed by Mickey Mantle on New York Yankees, Inc. stationery, and dated July 28, 1953. Folded as mailed, a small section of bleed-through from a piece of tape on the verso (since removed), some finger smudges, a very good or better example. A brief letter to a fan providing an autograph and noting: "It sure is encouraging to know of your interest in me and the Yankees." A relatively early autograph. 1953 was Mantle's second full season with the team, and this letter has a certain nostalgia factor seldom found in the many post-career autographs that the Yankee legend provided.

New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1952. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. First edition. Spine a little faded, near fine in the gray binding (one of three, with no priority) in a very near fine, price-clipped dustwrapper with a couple of tiny tears and nominal rubbing. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication: "For Charles Crow. Cordially Bern. July 1952." Crow was a friend of Malamud's from New York, and advised Malamud when he was applying for teaching positions, eventually accepting a position at Oregon State College. Crow's advice to Malamud is quoted in *Bernard Malamud: A Writer's Life* by Philip Maurice Davis. An especially nice copy of the author's first book, perhaps *the* classic baseball novel, and basis for the Barry Levinson film starring Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, and Kim Basinger.

New York: Senior Class Columbia College, 1924. Hardcover. Very Good. First and only edition. Rubbed with wear at the extremities and hinges a touch loose, very good. 1924 Columbia Yearbook featuring photos and accounts of Lou Gehrig's exploits on the baseball team during his second and final year at Columbia. Gehrig is pictured at least three times in the book and mentioned in print elsewhere: "He is now the property of the New York Yankees, and sage old scouts of the national pastime predict a bright future for him." Good call, sage old scouts.

New York: The Morning Newspaper Baseball League, 1908. Hardcover. Near Fine. Cord-tied thick boards, die-cut into the shape of a baseball mitt. [114]pp. Elaborately illustrated souvenir volume. Some small scrapes on the front board, else near fine. Enumerates the various teams that played in the tournament. Rare. Not in *OCLC*, and we've never seen another copy.

[Richland Center, Wisconsin, 1938. Softcover. Fine. Typescript. [38]pp., and [3]pp. Black three-ring binder with typescript pages, printed rectos only; several cardstock separators, one with a typed label bearing the title; and a rear pocket with three additional typescript sheets, also printed rectos only. The binder is somewhat worn at the spine ends but the pages are fresh with scattered corrections, near fine or better. An unpublished account of the wondrous fictional baseball player, "Slugger" Sutton, based on a real small-town baseball league in Kickapoo River Valley in West Central Wisconsin. A charming tale of a small-town baseball legend who eschewed big league success for the ardor of his hometown fans. Further details available upon request.

New York, Chicago, San Francisco: Wilson-Western Sporting Goods Company, 1930. First edition. Two volumes. 8vo. The wrappers are illustrated with Rogers Hornsby in batting stance on the front cover. There are some marginal tears and general wear and soiling, especially to the Made -To-Measure catalogue; else in very good condition. Housed in a custom-made clamshell box of cloth with inlays of wood and leather. These two companion catalogues illustrate off-the-rack and tailor-made uniforms in a variety of price ranges. They contain original wool flannel samples, a drawing of the complete uniform, full description and price. The READY-TO-WEAR catalogue is sixteen pages (plus covers), fully illustrated and contains thirty-two uniform samples in a variety of colors and pinstripes. The MADE-TO-MEASURE catalogue is thirteen pages (plus covers), contains illustrations and sixty uniform samples in a variety of colors and pinstripes. Additionally, there are endorsements for mitts (with photo portraits) by… Leer más

[Chicago]: H.T. Webb, 32 S. Clark St, 1911. Unbound. Near Fine. Mammoth plate gelatin silver portrait photograph. Image size approximately 19" x 14½" on a 22" x 19" thick card mount. Hand captioned beneath the image: "Grace Presbyterian Base Ball Team Champions Presbyterian Brotherhood League Season 1911." Toning and small nicks on the edges of the mount only, lettering is rubbed but easily readable, the image is fine. Spectacular portrait of 15 African-American men, all but three in uniform, with trophy, mitts, and a catcher's mask. One of the three men in street clothing is on crutches. All members of an African-American amateur baseball team from Chicago (references to the photographer Webb appear in various Chicago sources; he also seems to have photographed some of the Chicago White Sox players). Grace Presbyterian was established in 1888 as a storefront African-American church that existed until around 1917. The Presbyterian Brotherhood was a men's club meant to promote "masculine… Leer más

Englewood Cliifs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1970. First Edition. Cloth. Collectible; Fine/Fine. A very important ASSOCIATION copy, BELONGING TO JACKIE ROBINSON! LAID-IN IS AN IMMACULATE PRENTICE-HALL REVIEW SLIP, ADDRESSED TO JACKIE ROBINSON VIA HIS NEW YORK AGENT. An unusually clean, crisp copy to boot of the 1970 1st edition of this highly-regarded, very influential history of the Negro Leagues. Tight and Near Fine in a bright, price-intact, Near Fine dustjacket. Octavo, 406 pgs. For obvious reasons, it's all-but-impossible to overstate the significance of this copy.