Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$8500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: (Baseball) AMERICA'S NATIONAL GAME: HISTORIC FACTS CONCERNING THE BEGINNING, EVOLUTION, DEVELOPMENT AND POPULARITY OF BASE BALL WITH PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF ITS VICISSITUDES, ITS VICTORIES AND ITS VOTARIES by Albert G. Spalding; cartoons by Homer C. Davenport. New York: American Sports Publishing Company, 1911. FIRST EDITION. 8vo - 8" x 5-3/8". Blue cloth covered boards with bright gilt titles and decoration of Uncle Sam holding a baseball bat to front cover and gilt titles to spine with light rubbing to the head of spine and corners, and minor wear to the tail of spine for what is a lovely copy of the book. Plain endpapers. xix, [1], 542 pp., plus [5] folded plates. This is an essential early text from one of the key pioneers of our national pastime. "America's National Game" traces the sport of baseball from its birth, to its growth in the military camps of the American Civil War, to the first professional teams, and forward through the first decade of the twentieth century; illustrated with a total of 114 black and white drawings and photographs including 5 wonderful fold-out plates. This copy is extra special, being inscribed by the author in black fountain pen ink, "To Mr. E. A. Steininger / with my compliments / A. G. Spalding / New York / Oct. 10 1911" on a blank preliminary page; a light bump to the front upper fore edge of the text block effects the first five leaves, i.e., inscription page, half-title, tissue-guarded portrait, frontispiece and title page. The condition of the book is VERY GOOD +. A "Letter of Authenticity" issued by PSA/DNA Authentication Services is included with the book. RARE inscribed and in such nice condition.
Seller: Wallace & Clark, Booksellers, Houston, TX, U.S.A.
SPALDING Albert G.. America's National Game. , 1911.
Price: US$8500.00 + shipping
Description: "SPALDING, Albert G. America's National Game. Historic Facts Concerning the Beginning, Evolution, Development and Popularity of Base Ball. New York: American Sports Publishing, 1911. Thick octavo, original blue pictorial cloth gilt. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $8500.First edition, presentation copy, of this essential baseball history, warmly inscribed by the author in the year of publication: "To Mr. H.E. Doolittle with my compliments and Christmas Greetings. A.G. Spalding. Point Loma Calif., Dec. 25, 1911." With over 100 full-page illustrations and four fold-out plates (two printed on both sides), including frontispiece and panoramic views of the Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Comiskey Park and Forbes Field."History of the game by one of the pioneer giants" (Grobani 6:9). Spalding transformed baseball "from its dual origins as either a gentlemen's club or a rowdy working-class pastime into a popular, commercial, and professional sport [His] newspaper obituaries across the nation recognized Spalding, who had been a part of nearly every major event in baseball's history, as the father of what was now considered to be 'America's game" (ANB). During his career, Spalding also established a worldwide sporting goods empire and founded Spalding's Official National League Base Ball Guide. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. Illustrated with historic photographs and numerous sketches by noted cartoonist Homer C. Davenport. Without rare original dust jacket. Smith 691; 19585. Howes S804. The recipient of this copy was a prominent San Diego attorney and alderman.Very fine condition, with folding plates completely intact (often either split or separated). Gilt cover illustration of Uncle Sam with bat in hand very bright. An unusually fine inscribed copy of a baseball landmark."
Seller: Bauman Rare Books, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
Spalding, A.G.. AMERICA'S NATIONAL GAME.BASEBALL. New York, American Sports Publishing, 1911, 1911.
Price: US$50000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 8vo, blue cloth with embossed Uncle Sam with Bat.hinges cracked o/w fine with clear and very bright images and lettering.1st Edition.INSCRIBED."To William T. Brown who made the bats that smote the balls that won the games.with the compliments of A.G. Spalding.New York, October 10th, 1911".ticketed for Cooperstown.no scans
Seller: NUDEL BOOKS, New York, NY, U.S.A.