1865 Elysian Fields artwork....perhaps the first significant BaseBall collectible.

[tedzan]

While the experts in another thread are currently debating which BB card was first, I consider this 1865 Currier & Ives lithograph
of Elysian Fields (23" x 15" picture) one of the very first BaseBall "Art-i-facts" (excuse the pun). It's the centerpiece in my office,
surrounded by my various uncut sheets (1927 to 1961 BB & FB cards).

The first organized game of BB was played on June 19, 1846 in this ballpark in Hoboken, New Jersey.





…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………….… a young V Henry Chadwick




TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Baseball Rarities]

Awesome image Ted. Here is a great article by John Thorn about it:

https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/unraveli...y-b443c0541c96

[hcv123]

Would love to see shots of the office! Sounds awesome.

Howard

[commishbob]

That's nothing short of amazing. A 154-year-old piece of baseball history! Like Howard, I'd love to see a photo of the rest of the office wall.





btw...I was going to just post a wisecrack about it being a shot of the last time Chris Davis had a hit but that seemed somehow sacrilegious.

[MVSNYC]

I lived on that very plot of land, for 5 years. Maxwell Place (condos) right on the waterfront in Hoboken, overlooking NYC.

[Billyscards]

I have the Harpers Weekly 1859 woodcut framed in my basement!

[dbrown]

This makes me think of the slightly earlier lithographic from the civil war prison camp, published in 1863. Not the same reach as Currier & Ives but according to the Smithsonian writeup, it was a good seller. Is there an earlier widely published image that centers on the game?

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july...l-war-pow-game