Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
THAYER, Phineas.. Casey at the Bat.. A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1912.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: [29] pp. Illustrations by Dan Sayre Groesbeck. 12mo, publisher's printed green boards. First hardcover edition. There are a few slight smudges to the text and the top 1-1/2" of the spine is absent, with a few other small chips to the backstrip.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Scarce first illustrated edition and first stand-alone book edition of the American classic, mock-heroic poem, printed at The Caslon Press in Chicago. Very nice condition with a new, paper backstrip applied, matching the green background of cover with pictorial of a bat draped in a big, black bow. Corners moderately worn, a short closed tear bottom of page in front of book. Contemporary owner signature ffe. "Casey at the Bat" was first published in The Daily Examiner in San Francisco on June 3, 1888. A month after the poem was published, it was reprinted as "Kelly at the Bat" in the New York Sporting Times.
Seller: Johnnycake Books ABAA, ILAB, Salisbury, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition. Original small 8vo., decorated green paper-covered boards, title in gilt, illustrated with a yellow bat with black ribbon tie con cover. Illustrations in orange and black by Dan Sayre Goresbeck. First sole appearance, preceded by a rare separate private printing and as a contribution. This edition is recognized at the first edition. A fragile item, this copy with the spine intact which is quite scarce in this condition. Previous gift inscription which is common. The top corner of the front fly leaf has an archival repair to the corner. A few slight rough spots to the rear cover. Very good copy of an increasing difficult book and much in demand as a cornerstone of baseball literature. In custom made slipcase for protection.
Seller: sonalsorises, los angeles, CA, U.S.A.
[BASEBALL] THAYER, Phineas. CASEY AT THE BAT. A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1912.
Price: US$1062.50 + shipping
Description: Small octavo (5-1/4" x 6-7/8") in original decorated green rough paper boards with gilt lettering and a yellow bat with a thick black ribbon tied around it; [31] pages. First Illustrated and First Separate Hardcover Edition of this classic piece of Americana, the most famous poem about baseball. Illustrated in orange and black by Dan Sayre Groesbeck with full-page cartoons in orange and black facing a stanza of the poem with a black-and-white cartoon figure below. "Casey" first appeared in a San Francisco newspaper in 1888 as a featured piece of humorous doggerel. Its ascension to immortal status was due primarily to actor and toastmaster DeWolf Hopper, who began reciting it at dinners and other functions, as well as on the vaudeville stage. Previous owner's name on half-title page in a child's hand; faint ink marks on endpapers; front hinge partly split but covers tight. Boards quite nice with a 2-1/2" split along front spine edge and the bottom inch of the spine chipped with loss. Still Very Good for this fragile piece
Seller: Charles Agvent, est. 1987, ABAA, ILAB, Fleetwood, PA, U.S.A.