Help with preserving old Spalding Guides

[Runscott]

I have a group of 1800's Spalding and Reach Baseball Guides that have fragile covers and bindings. I want to be able to read them (interiors are okay), but it's disturbing to see flakes of paper on my coffee table each time I do so.

Any thoughts on how to safely store/handle? Even taking them in and out of my bookcase is a small problem. I'm leaning toward having them turned into hardbacks, using the original covers like they do in libraries, and for the coverless ones, creating faux covers and doing the same (turning into hardbacks). Their condition is not such that it would matter, and I don't plan on re-selling them.

Thoughts?

[thecatspajamas]

Scott,
You should probably go through the guides and cut out any of the pictures first so you can sell them on eBay as "photos" for big money to pay for your binding expenses. The pictures are all anyone wants out of those old guides anyway, or so I'm told by a certain eBay seller.

Just kidding. Having them rebound as hardcovers sounds like a great idea to me, especially if you're referring back to them regularly. As long as "james601" doesn't get ahold of them, it's all good

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

Scott,
You should probably go through the guides and cut out any of the pictures first so you can sell them on eBay as "photos" for big money to pay for your binding expenses. The pictures are all anyone wants out of those old guides anyway, or so I'm told by a certain eBay seller.

Just kidding. Having them rebound as hardcovers sounds like a great idea to me, especially if you're referring back to them regularly. As long as "james601" doesn't get ahold of them, it's all good

Thanks, Lance. I remember as a kid, checking out paperbacks from the library that had been 'turned into' hardbacks. They looked great - the covers were both incorporated into the boards, and I think the spine was as well.

I read through some of these at least a couple of times each week - generally randomly thumbing through them for fun, not necessarily reference. I've been collecting horrible but complete copies, expressly for the purpose of re-binding as reading copies - only need a few more.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Scott one solution would be to preserve your guides as you suggested by having them converted to hard covers. But you could wrap your guides and leave them as is on the the shelf and buy the Horton reprints to read through.

They are well done but of course you don't get that feeling of touching the old guide that was possibly looked through by Cap Anson or King Kelly!

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Hot Springs Bathers

Scott one solution would be to preserve your guides as you suggested by having them converted to hard covers. But you could wrap your guides and leave them as is on the the shelf and buy the Horton reprints to read through.

They are well done but of course you don't get that feeling of touching the old guide that was possibly looked through by Cap Anson or King Kelly!

Good idea. I have never held one of the Hortons, so not sure, but I would think that the quality of the photo reprints wouldn't be as good. Given that the quality in the originals isn't so great, I wouldn't want to have to deal with even fuzzier. But they are cheap enough that I probably should buy one, just to see.

I do have the Players League reprint, and I used to have an original - the quality in the reprint is great, but it might be a different publisher.

[Hot Springs Bathers]

Scott I think it was also done by Ralph Horton? They are certainly not the real deal but they are darned good. He had actually started on the old NFL guides too before giving it up. I am not sure but it may have been serious health reasons?

[martindl]

I recently acquired a book published in 1665. It's about the court rules of Romans. It was rebound in old book pages from 1747, secured in vellum.

I think you should rebind your guides in old copies of Baseball Magazine or Harpers perhaps. If it's good enough for the Romans.........

[Runscott]

Paper flakes suck. You know you are watching your books disentegrate right in front of your eyes...never to re-integrate

Sent from my SM-G730V using Tapatalk

[CBishop]

Do you have an 1887 Spalding Guide? I am looking for answers about the White Stockings of that year.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by CBishop

Do you have an 1887 Spalding Guide? I am looking for answers about the White Stockings of that year.

No, but I have the 1887 Reach Guide. Ask whatever you would like, and I'll see if I can answer via the Guide.

[CBishop]

Originally Posted by Runscott

No, but I have the 1887 Reach Guide. Ask whatever you would like, and I'll see if I can answer via the Guide.

Hi Scott,

We are trying to colorize a black and white photo from 1887 of Billy Sunday as a Chicago White Stockings and looking for any clues as to the color of their uniforms. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Scott