Baseball History Through Photography - Dags. to Wire Service Photos 1858-1958, Rucker

[oldjudge]

Barry-Are there attempts at identifying the players in the CdVs?

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Barry-Are there attempts at identifying the players in the CdVs?

In those instances in which players are known and can be identified, yes. The 1875 Hartford CdV is completely identified, for example. In the case of a superb image or team that is worth including in the book but is otherwise unknown, it isn't.

[oldjudge]

Hopefully, Mark took this opportunity to correct the identification mistakes in the soft cover book.

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Hopefully, Mark took this opportunity to correct the identification mistakes in the soft cover book.

Hopefully.

[oldjudge]

Crickets

[Mark Rucker]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Barry-Are there attempts at identifying the players in the CdVs?

The attempt to identify players is ever ongoing, but if a player is not a professional, our only hope is to find a name written on the back of the card. With someone like Curry Klunk, however, the name is nice to know but leads nowhere.

[Bicem]

Are the RPPC's major league images or are local town teams included?

[Mark Rucker]

The selection is based mostly on aesthetics, as you will find postcards of major leaguers, minor leaguers, town teams, black players, native players, women players, cuban teams, players and more. It is a mixture of baseball images from the deadball era. I will be uploading some sample pages on Net54 shortly.

[GaryPassamonte]

Are there hard images other than tintypes included?

[Leon]

Mark (hi Mark) sent this over earlier. This is as big as it is and if I make it larger it gets blurry....I have asked for a larger image.

[Mark Rucker]

Just sent Leon some bigger files of sample pages, so they may be up soon.

Hi Gary. The Metallica book has four ambrotypes and one dag. The rest are tintypes that range from gem size to full plate.

One of the cartes in the CdV book came to me from Barry Sloate. The photo is a classic with the player holding his huge bat in his full, simple uniform. Quite recently on the internet, I was calling up cdv images when I saw the batter again, this time with an identification. He was referred to as Edward Dikeman. He looks a lot like Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies.

With a disclaimer, I included the name in his caption in the CdV book, but I know nothing of how this ID appeared. Is it another copy of the carte with a name written on the verso? Does anybody know?

I will try to upload the image.

[Leon]

files....the ones sent over larger were able to be made larger on the screen

[benjulmag]

I thought I would give my thoughts as I purchased the set.

The individual volumes (six in total) are excellent. The picture and paper quality are very good, and Mark was inclusive in the images he selected. Accordingly as a research tool the volumes are very useful as one would be hard pressed to find many of the images in another publication. They also present sides of the game (e.g., woman playing baseball in the 19th century) that are rarely depicted and which put the game in a broader context.

The books by depicting different photographic processes serve too to well illustrate how photography evolved.

I recognize the books are not inexpensive, and are not for everybody. But if the set or individual volumes fit within your budget they are something you will get much enjoyment out of.

[Mark Rucker]

Corey and one other collector have purchased a set of the books. I am very gratified to receive a good review from one of the cornerstones of the hobby, Corey Shanus. We have known each other a long time, all the way back to those early days of 19th Century discoveries, and along the way have had some extraordinary experiences. Corey and Barry Sloate have been my companions through many an adventure.

If more reviews of the books are possible, I will try to post them.

[barrysloate]

Hi Mark,
On another part of this board, we have a discussion going about the find of Harry Wright scorebooks. That is an adventure the three of us shared. Great memories!

[Mark Rucker]

I plan to bring the set of six books to the SABR convention in Pittsburgh later this month, along with other historical materials for sale. SABR members are the most active baseball book buyers anywhere. However, they will never have seen volumes like these.

[Baseball Rarities]

I have also purchased a set of Mark's books. His 1988 Baseball Cartes - The First Baseball Cards has been an indispensable part of my hobby library for years, so I knew that his six-volume was going to be a must for me.

The books are of the highest quality. The breath of subjects included was a pleasant surprise to me. Instead of just picturing the hobby's famous images, Mark included an incredible variety of images within each book - from the Negro Leagues, to the House of David, to Cuban baseball, to Bloomer Girls..you get the point.

Most of the images were new to me and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with each volume and appreciating the areas of collecting that have generally been foreign to me.

My collection of hobby reference material is very important to me and I do not think that it would be complete without Mark's books. The price is definitely on the steep side, but if your collection consists of these types of images then I think that this would make a great compliment to it.

[1880nonsports]

I wrote Mark to purchase a copy of one of the books. I have not heard back...… I'm patient.

[Mark Rucker]

This is Mark back on the thread. For everyone's info the email address for me is theruckerarchive@icloud.com. And also for your info I will NOT be attending SABR this year - I cracked a bone, and must stay home.

[1880nonsports]

sorry about your injuries. I should have sent a card I have emailed you again.

[barrysloate]

I am injured too Henry. I fell yesterday and have a bad ankle sprain. I thought I might have broken it at the time. I am wearing a protective boot and icing it. But I will still be in Florida in July.

Mark, feel better. Sorry about the crack.

[1880nonsports]

hope it's not something "in the cards". Or worse - chemical leeching from old photos! Looking forward to it.

[Mark Rucker]

Henry - can you contact me about the book(s) at this email:
theruckerarchive@icloud.com. Thanks.
Barry - we are too old for this stuff!

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Mark Rucker

Henry - can you contact me about the book(s) at this email:
theruckerarchive@icloud.com. Thanks.
Barry - we are too old for this stuff!

Tell me about it. Hope you are not in too much pain. I'm healing well.