Early Baseball dust jackets

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Posted By: Max Weder

I'm looking to confirm the existence (or not) of certain early baseball dust jackets, both fiction and non-fiction.

Here's a list of titles I haven't seen in 18 years of baseball book collecting, either in auction or catalogue listings, as well as searching for ads in proquest and other magazine holdings.

Mathewson, Pitching in the Pinch, Putnam 1912 (later edition Putnam dj has been seen, Robert Edwards offered Putnam 1st with Grosset reprint dust jacket I believe)
Mathewson, Won in the Ninth
Chance, The Bride and the Pennant
Anson, A Ball Player's Career
Ellard, Base Ball in Cincinatti
Spalding, America's National Game
Spink, The National Game
Braathen, Ty Cobb Idol of the Baseball Fandom
Richter, Richter's History and Records of Base Ball
Roff, Base Ball and Base Ball Players
Thouey, Boston Base Ball Club 1871-1897

Thanks,

Max

[Archive]

Posted By: barry sloate

Hi Max,
The Mathewson books have first edition dust jackets, I know a collector who has them all. I'm not familair with the Chance book; all the others you listed were not issued with dust jackets. Barry Sloate

[Archive]

Posted By: Max Weder

Thanks Barry. It's obviously easier to confirm what has a dust jacket (by personal observation) than what was issued without. I have had numerous collectors swear up and down that a certain book doesn't have a dj, but of course all they're saying is they haven't seen it in 15 or thirty years of collecting.

I strongly suspect you're right on the other books, but have you been able to confirm these absences through original catalogue descriptions or advertisments?

As for The Bride and the Pennant, I believe it was the first ghost written baseball novel. I still haven't had the courage to read it, but I'll bet Frank ends up with both the girl and the pennant. The book also provides a glossary of the pseudonyms it uses, in case the reader is completely baseball illiterate.

I've always assumed it had a dust jacket, but the book is rare enough (i.e. it's only shown up on ebay twice in the last seven years) in hard cover that I'm not sure many (or any) of the dust jackets survived.


Thanks,

Max