Woundedduck
03-17-2011, 07:18 AM
I recently purchased an original Harper's Weekly woodcut print from 1859 that depicts a baseball game being played in the Elysian Fields. It's got me wondering how old are the oldest collectibles from our favorite pasttime. There's got to be something before 1859. I'd love to learn more and even see examples if some of you have something. Thanks.
Eric
barrysloate
03-17-2011, 07:49 AM
There are not a lot of baseball collectibles pre-1859, but among those you might find are books, constitutions, trophy baseballs...and not much else. There's virtually no baseball photography pre-1860, although there are a few known images that could be earlier.
I should add that there is a daguerreotype that was taken around 1848 that depicts up to six members of the Knickerbocker BBC (a couple of the people in the image have yet to be identified), including Alexander Cartwright. This is near the top of the best photographs in the hobby. But there is very little else.