[sphere and ash]

Nineteenth century photographers—not one of whom devoted themselves exclusively or even largely to baseball as a subject—were sometimes able to capture stunning images in their studios by manipulating lighting, pose, or attitude. Others, before the introduction of the dry plate in the early 1880s, were able to escape the confines of the studio by taking their darkrooms with them to the baseball field.

Please post your favorite nineteenth century images: ambrotypes, cartes des visites, stereoviews, tintypes, albumen prints, and early silver prints.

My own favorite: this gorgeous portrait of a black catcher staring through his mask. For twenty years, the heroic nature of this portrait kept suggesting to me that the subject was someone important and that I needed to discover his story. After a lot of research, it turned out that he was important, and came within inches of crossing the color line. There are even some accounts that he did. I just love the white below his irises, like a boxer in a fight poster.