Early woodcut

[bgar3]

In 1832 a famous baseball woodcut appeared in a little chapbook entitled Mary’s Book of Sports. The woodcut, by Alexander Anderson, was then reused in about 10 other books from 1832 to 1842, according to Block. Due to scarcity of Mary’s Book, collectors make due with one of the other early ones, which are also very rare. The photos that are attached are from a circa 1840 miniature book, Village Green, with a new, different verse. Although not a uniquely American scene like the 1834 Boston image I posted about earlier, this one is clearly meant to represent a New England scene, as evidenced by the title and the New Haven publisher.
For information on all these early titles and their importance I recommend Block, Baseball Before We Knew It.

[doug.goodman]

Thank you for that

[aelefson]

Thank you Bruce! I have two of the Village Green chapbooks and I need to check my collection to see what others I have. I also need to look for the Boston Common woodcut image but I am fairly certain I do not have it currently. I really appreciate the information about the earliest images!

Alan

[Billyscards]

I’d love to get my hands on a 1830-1840 base ball depiction within text like the ones shown. Does anyone know where to find them? Are they really expensive?

[bgar3]

Bill, this type of thing can be found, and the price you could be asked to pay would be a very wide range, probably 10 to thousands of dollars. My suggestion would be to try to do the research yourself, prepare a want list, check the various book and online auction websites, and/or let others know what you are looking for and work with them. To begin I strongly suggest getting a copy of this book: Block, Baseball Before We Knew It. This is a good historical read, and best of all has a yearby year list of books about baseball with an explanation of why they are important. Just as valuable is a title index that can be checked once you think you may have found a potential purchase. While I think these are important there are no price guides, or registry’s etc. I am old and have doing this for along time so my finds have not cost me much at all. If you have more resources you can find very nice important books right now, but you will pay a premium for the work someone else did. I think I helped a board member purchase a very important early woodcut already and would be happy to help you. In any case, I hope this is a start in your quest.
There is another board member here who specifically collects all baseball woodcuts and I think he would be helpful.
Good luck

[aquarius31]

Bruce, great stuff as always.

Bill, as Bruce mentions, the prices vary widely and the further you go back ie 1820's and 1830's, the more expensive they tend to be especially if it's purchased from an antique book seller. A cheaper (and still very nice) alternative is the Babcock 1840 'The Gift of Friendship' book (more like a pamphlet) which has a baseball depiction on the front cover (I think I purchased mines from a board member several years ago). And if you're looking for color illustrations, there's the 1864 'American Boys Book of Sports and Games' book. You'll find both online and they're inexpensive yet wonderful pieces of baseball history. On the latter, you will want to ask the seller if the pages are complete as it's not uncommon for the lithographs to be pulled out of the book and then framed to look like they're stand-alone pieces.

[bgar3]

Bill, George is the expert on the board I referred to.

[Billyscards]

You guys are a great help!

[GaryPassamonte]

Bruce- I've had this primitive painting for quite a few years. I'm not sure if it is vintage or not. It is dated 1867, although the frame is later than that. Jack Norris from NYC is the "artist". I always found it interesting that it says "playng ball" with the "i" missing. My question is what book does this image come from. I can't seem to remember. It is a well known image.

[bgar3]

Gary, cool piece.
Your image is known as “Playing Ball” by woodcut artist Alexander Anderson, a pioneer in American woodcuts. It originally appeared in a book entitled “Children’s Amusement” with a small verse, first published in 1820. Their is also a 1822 edition. Block describes both as extremely rare and I would certainly agree.
It is considered a landmark illustration since it was published I. America and is clearly not cricket. I will see if I can find out anything more about your particular item.

[GaryPassamonte]

Thanks, Bruce.