[Rarebooks] FS: 1856 baseball including early Boston-New York rivalry

[Charles Agvent]

One of 65 exceptional books from our new Spring Catalog recently posted 
on our website: http://www.erols.com/agvent
Also included are a bevy of Signed Presidential books (J. Q. Adams, Van 
Buren, Buchanan, Fillmore, Cleveland, Taft, McKinley, Wilson, both 
Roosevelts, Eisenhower family copies, Kennedy, etc.), wonderful letters 
by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Virginia Woolf, a signed copy of ON THE 
ROAD, a McKenney and Hall INDIAN TRIBES folio volume, a 1609 
hand-colored herbal, a 1621 edition of Agricola's DE RE METALLICA with 
wonderful woodcuts, early baseball and aviation, scarce signed modern 
first editions, and more.

[BASEBALL  - EARLY]. PORTER'S SPIRIT OF THE TIMES. A Chronicle of  the
Turf,  Field Sports, Literature and the Stage. Volume I, Nos. 1 -  26.
New  York:  [Wm.  Porter & George Wilkes]  1856-1857.  First  Edition.
Folio  (10-3/4"  x  16") in the original cloth rebacked with  a  later
cloth  spine;  424  pages.  The debut volume with 26  issues  of  this
important   sports  newspaper  containing   accounts  of  horse races,
billiards,  cricket matches, chess, and some of the earliest reportage
of  baseball  games including printed box scores (developed  by  Henry
Chadwick  in  1856) and rule changes. The 8 November 1856 issue  gives
an  account of a game that reveals the gentlemanly nature of the  game
at  that  time  describing  the  toasts  offered,  lyrics  of  a  song
performed  solo,  and  other  remarks made to the  crowd,  though  the
writer  notes  that  catches  were made on the fly,  "instead  of  the
child's  play,  'from the bound.'" The 6 December 1856 issue  contains
rules  for  "The American National Game of Base Ball as played by  the
Putnam  Club of New York illustrated with a diagram of the field. This
evokes  a response in a later issue by New England correspondent  "Bob
Lively"  who  describes "how they play the game in New  England"  with
its  own  and different diagram: "The ball was thrown, not pitched  or
tossed,  as  a gentleman who has seen 'Base' played in New York  tells
me  it is; it was thrown, and with a vigor, too, that made it  whistle
through  the air, and stop with a solid smack in the catcher's  hands,
which  he  generally held directly in front of his face."  Much  more.
The  last  eight  pages were used as a scrapbook, and no  attempt  has
been  made  to remove the clippings pasted over the text. Very  scarce
peek into the beginnings of our national pastime. Few edge tears, some
browning and dampstaining. Very Good                          $3500.00

-- 

All books subject to prior sale.  Cash with order; institutions may be 
billed.  Postage additional:  $10.00 for the first book, $5.00 each 
thereafter.  Overseas postage billed at approximate cost.  Pennsylvania 
residents must add 6% sales tax.  Mastercard, Visa, American Express and 
Discover accepted.  Books may be returned within 10 days of receipt for 
any reason provided they are in the same condition as sent and prior 
notice is given.  Please insure returns for their full value.  We carry 
a diverse stock with major specialties including Modern and 19th Century 
Literary First Editions, Autographed Books, and Limited Editions Club 
books.  We are celebrating our 22nd year of business and are proud to be 
members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and 
the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB).  Please feel 
free to contact us with any wants or offerings.  Thank you.

CHARLES AGVENT
291 Linden Road
Mertztown, PA  19539-8750
610-682-4750
agvent at erols.com
Visit our home page:  http://www.erols.com/agvent
-------------- next part --------------

No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
Version: 8.5.283 / Virus Database: 270.11.43/2043 - Release Date: 04/06/09 06:22:00