Help with baseball books

[sam majors]

A friend asked me about some baseball books he has. I know very little about books. I'm hoping someone could tell me about desirability and the price range.

1) The Negro in Sports by Edwin Henderson. Revised edition 1949 with dust jacket.

2) Richter's History and Records of Base Ball. 1914 no dust jacket.

3) Billy Sunday The man and his message by Wm. T. Ellis. 1914 with dust jacket.

4) Base Ball How To Play It. by Stanley Harris 1925 with dust jacket.

I can try to get more information if needed. I have pictures of the title page I'll try to put on later. Thanks, Sam Majors smajors234@yahoo.com

5) Baseball Individual Play and Team Play in Detail by Clarke and Dawson 1915

6) Playing The Game From Mine Boy to Manager Stanley Harris 1925

[bgar3]

These are very collectible.
1. Harris--- this appears to be the Stokes edition, which is a first Ed. The dust jacket is fairly scarce and makes it much better. Pricing baseball books is difficult since they are not that popular right now, but I still believe they are under valued and will rebound. That said this could range from about 150 to 250 full retail, assuming not ex library etc.
2. Henderson---this appears to be the 1949 edition, not a first, but actually could be better. First was 1939. Again the dust jacket makes it more desirable and is fairly scarce. Estimate about the same as above.
3. Sunday book---more common, but again the dust jacket makes it more desirable. No estimate on this one, but quess about 100 or so.
4. Richter--- this is the best one in my opinion, great early history. Condition is not great, but ok. This used to go for over 1000, but seems to sell now for 600 to 750 or so. You should check to see if they are signed or belonged to anyone signicant.
Books seem to be a hard sell at the moment, but I believe will have lasting value, the Richter is the best one.

[Jason19th]

The Henderson is a great book - great section on Negro leagues and another on Jackie. Very rare especially with dust jacket. All that said I think this book is very under values - generally goes for about 200 with dust jacket - you can find copies listed for much higher but those have been listed forever. I have both the 49 and 39 editions - well worth picking up

[ValKehl]

Sam, is the 1915 date for the Bucky Harris book a typo? Bucky's first year in pro ball was 1916, and his first year with the Senators was 1919.

[bgar3]

The Harris book should be 1925.

[sam majors]

The Harris book is 1925. I guess these tired old eyes need to do a better job at proof reading. I appreciate the information about the books. My friend has a few others but I don't have pictures of them yet. Any help with them would be appreciated. Thanks, Sam Majors smajors234@yahoo.com

[sam majors]

I listed 2 more books in my first post at the top. So far Net.54 members have provided a ton of information! Thanks, Sam

[baseballart]

Sam

5) Baseball Individual Play and Team Play in Detail by Clarke and Dawson 1915

6) Playing The Game From Mine Boy to Manager Stanley Harris 1925


5. This book is very very common without dust jacket. Most instructionals, even early ones, have very limited demand. A $10 book. Even with a dust jacket, it would sell for under $50,

6. This is the Stokes first edition. Hard to find in a dust jacket. Quite collectible, but most book collectors (of which there seem to be far fewer now) have a copy (as they do with other great books like Richter). It should be a $200+ book, and perhaps more if you can find two collectors to fight it out.

Book prices generally are lower now than in the 1990s. The internet has shown that some books (e.g. Putnam team series) are much more available, leading to a drop. With fewer collectors, this also leads to price drops. Some truly rare titles have gone up in value.

That said, prices can swing wildly, depending on the auction venue, the bidders and other factors.

Max

[bgar3]

Playing the game is a first, I believe, although there is a Grosset and Dunlap reprint I think it is a different dust jacket. Again, the dust jacket is pretty scarce and makes the book better, 200 and up full retail.
The Clarke and Dawson is a first, there were many other editions. Not as collected as history books, but still interesting. There is a dust jacket which seems to be missing, still can be found for about 20 dollars and up. I think Clarke was Moe Berg's coach at Princeton. This was the first in a series of books with this title, subsequent editions authored by Coombs, Littweiler and probably others, with expected changes in strategy etc.

[baseballart]

The Clarke and Dawson is a first, there were many other editions. Not as collected as history books, but still interesting. There is a dust jacket which seems to be missing, still can be found for about 20 dollars and up. I think Clarke was Moe Berg's coach at Princeton. This was the first in a series of books with this title, subsequent editions authored by Coombs, Littweiler and probably others, with expected changes in strategy etc.

Bruce

I have with dust jackets the series of these which dealt with a number of sports. The Ice Hockey title seems to be the hardest to find in dust jacket, and commends more attention and a higher price, simply because of the lack of early hockey titles.

[bgar3]

Max, very nice. Also nice to hear from you. I was answering only as a fill in for you. Almost started a book related thread to see if anyone was still around.

[baseballart]

Bruce

Don't know if you're on Facebook, but Tom Zocco and I administer the Baseball Book Group there with about 6000 members. It's fairly active and civil, and is clearly focused on modern books, and (gasp) people reading these books; however, there are a number of older book postings from time to time.

Max

[bgar3]

Thanks Max, I will check it out, I think my post crossed yours in response to to the op, sorry.