Collecting Woodcuts - where to start?

[drcy]

Start looking for Harper's woodcuts on eBay.

They did have printing presses in the 1800s, but the pictures were 'handcarved' so are original artworks.

Nearly all the graphics in 1800s (1890s started to covert to modern reproductive methods) were handmade prints, so that includes business cards, trade cards, books, newspaper, magazines, Reach and Spalding guides, posters, programs. The Reach and Spalding guides have some excellent woodcuts.

But the Harper's is a great place to start, and lots of them to collect and they're high quality. You can find the pages or the entire magazines.

[bgar3]

Agree Harpers is a good place to start, but I think you will find the nice early baseball images are from Harper’s Weekly, not the monthly. Leslie’s and the New York Clipper are also excellent sources.
Something to consider would be to find the dates of the images you are interested in and then see if you can find that full issue listed, even if it doesn’t reference baseball.

[mouschi]

Excellent idea! Do you know if there is a list somewhere?

Originally Posted by bgar3

Agree Harpers is a good place to start, but I think you will find the nice early baseball images are from Harper’s Weekly, not the monthly. Leslie’s and the New York Clipper are also excellent sources.
Something to consider would be to find the dates of the images you are interested in and then see if you can find that full issue listed, even if it doesn’t reference baseball.

[drcy]

Then someday you can collect the complete set of original Albrecht Durer woodcuts

[bgar3]

Here is a starter list for Cincinnati.
July 3, 1869. Harper’s. Cincinnati team
July 24, 1869. Harper’s. Giant bat
July 2, 1870. Harper’s. Cincinnati batting against Atlantic’s.
If you see one you like somewhere, check the top to see if
There is a date and then compile a list. There is at least one great collector of woodcuts on this site, he probably has a list or has already posted it.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by mouschi

Excellent idea! Do you know if there is a list somewhere?

Yes. The Encyclopedia of Baseball Cards by Lew Lipset.

[Exhibitman]

One other thing to consider are etchings. Many books of the era used etchings as illustrations. Early boxers are often only available in career contemporary form in such book plates.

[brianp-beme]

Not my area of expertise, but here is a list I found searching the web, I believe compiled by a current Net54 member D.Goodman, that includes known Harper's Weekly woodcuts.

Brian


I love the Harper's woodcuts, as well as those from Leslie's. Here is the checklist I use for HW. As many of you know, there is a pictorial checklist of many Harper's woodcuts in issue #14 of the Vintage & Classic Baseball Collector (VCBC) from Jan/Feb 1998.

I have incorporated the VCBC checklist into my own :

date - page - VCBC# - Illustration Description
10/15/59 - 664/665 - 1 - A BB Match at The Elysian Fields, Hoboken
10/15/59 - 660 - x - English Cricketeers - The Eleven of England
10/22/59 - 688 - x - Cricket
03/23/61 - cover - 2 - Abner Doubleday is in a picture of soldiers at Ft Sumter
11/18/65 - 733 - 3 - BB Match between Athletics and Atlantics
11/25/65 - 741 - 4 - Champion Nine Atlantic BBC of Brooklyn
11/03/66 - 697 - 5 - Brooklyn Atlantics vs Phil. Athletics / Champ 9 of Atlantic BBC
12/08/66 - 775 - x - Base-ball Illustrated (cartoons)
08/03/67 - 488/489 - x - The College Regatta and Ball Match at Worcester, MA 7-19-1867
10/26/67 - 684 - 6 - Champion Nine - Union Club - Morrisania NY (1/2 page)
05/16/68 - cover - 7 - George Sands - cover
09/12/68 - 587 - x - The National Game (cartoon)
10/03/68 - 636 - x - Cricket
07/03/69 - 421 - 8 - Picked Nine of Red Stocking Club of Cincinnati Ohio (1/2 page)
07/24/69 - 477 - 9 - Presentation Of Championship Bat to Red Stockings
07/02/70 - 424/425 - 10 - BB match between Red Stockings and Atlantics (1/2 page)
06/27/74 - 536 - 11 - International Baseball - The Boston Champions
07/25/74 - 624 - 12 - International Baseball - The Philladelphia Athletics
09/05/74 - 733 - 13 - Base-Ball in England Red Stocking vs Athletics
09/12/74 - 756 - 14 - Match of Red Stockings and Athletics
09/12/74 - 761 - 15 - Maple Leaf BBC
10/03/74 - 819 - x - The Great Game of Political Baseball - Tally 1 for Maine (cartoon)
07/27/78 - 588 - 16 - BB at Blackville - 1st blood for Black Legs (cartoon)
10/19/78 - ??? - x - Cricket match 9 X 14
11/01/79 - 865 - x - International Crickett Match at Philadelphia
05/14/81 - 320 - 17 - Princeton College BB Nine
08/05/82 - 493 - 18 - The Metropolitan Nine (1/2 page)
09/30/82 - 621 - 19 - The Providence BBC
10/14/82 - 652 - 20 - The Chicago BBC
04/14/83 - 240 - x - Another field of American Industry invaded by the Chinese
05/12/83 - 292 - 21 - The New BB Grounds at Chicago
06/09/83 - 364 - 22 - Baseball of the Future
10/13/83 - 653 - 23/24 - BB Champions of 1883 / Boston BBC
01/26/84 - 64 - x - Base-Ball on Skates, Washington Park, Brooklyn
07/19/84 - 471 - x - A Base-Ball Episode (cartoon)
05/02/85 - 279 - x - A Sound Base-ist (cartoon - somewhat baseball related)
05/16/85 - 312 - 25 - Champion BB Players (early all-star team?)
06/06/85 - 359 - x - A Moment of Excitement (cartoon)
08/22/85 - 549 - 26 - The Winning Run, How is it Umpire? (Chi vs NY)
10/17/85 - 684 - 27 - Chicago BBC w/Anson & Kelly (1/2 page)
05/08/86 - 300 - 28 - A Double Play- First League Game (NY vs Bos)
05/15/86 - 309 - 29 - New Metropolitan BB Grounds on Staten Island (1/2 page)
09/25/86 - ??? - x - International Crickett Match at Nicetown, PA
04/02/87 - 243 - x - A New Lucrative Profession Discovered (cartoon)
05/21/87 - 372 - x - Well Grounded (cartoon)
05/28/87 - 389 - x - A Spring Auction in Rural PA - A Game Of Ball (cartoon)
06/04/87 - 411 - x - Off His Base (cartoon)
09/03/87 - 639 - x - The National Game (cartoon)
09/10/87 - 648/649 - 30 - Thrown Out At Second (very dramatic action) (dbl page)
10/29/87 - 787 - x - Impressions Of Our Base-Ball Artist (cartoon)
10/29/87 - 791 - x - A Bad Defeat (cartoon)
11/26/87 - 859 - x - A Base-Ball Game on the Haight Street Grounds - SF
06/23/88 - 455 - 31 - The Base-ball Championship Cup
07/28/88 - cover - 32 - A Ball or a Strike, Which? (cover) (fantastic scene)
09/01/88 - ??? - x - BB Craze - Climax at Polo Grounds
09/15/88 - 699 - x - The Ruling Passion (cartoon)
10/13/88 - 783 - x - A Matter of Environment (cartoon)
10/20/88 - 793 - 33 - Winning Battery of NY Team (1/2 pg) Keefe & Ewing (both HOF)
10/27/88 - 820 - 34 - 2 Popular St Louis Players (1/2 page) (Comiskey & Latham)
01/12/89 - cover - x - Farmer Stebbins at the Bat (cover)
04/27/89 - 328 - 35 - The 1st League Game of Base-Ball of the Season
06/08/89 - 464 - x - Injured (cartoon)
06/22/89 - 493 - x - The Newhalls, The Great American Cricketeers
06/22/89 - 508 - 36 - The National Game ( comic )
08/31/89 - 704/705 - 37 - A Collegiate Game of BB (dbl page)
10/12/89 - 820 - x - In a time to come (cartoon)
10/19/89 - 838 - x - Nota Bene, Boston (cartoon)
11/09/89 - cover - 38 - William 'Buck' Ewing - Captain of NY Club (cover)
03/08/90 - 185 - 39 - A game of BB in the 13th Armory, Brooklyn
05/03/90 - 353/356 - 40 - Opening of 1890 BB Season (2 pages, both sides)
08/30/90 - 687 - x - A Strictly Amateur Nine (cartoon)
04/18/91 - 287 - x - The Social Ball Rolls Out as the National Game Comes In
06/13/91 - 448 - x - Princeton and Yale Team Pix
09/26/91 - 720 - 41 - Manhattan Athletic Club Grounds
10/10/91 - 786 - x - "No Muff this time" - Boston Championship 1891 (cartoon)
07/07/94 - ??? - x - College BB player pix
07/28/00 - 706 - x - Page #706 is baseball cartoons
05/31/02 - ??? - <11> - International Champions - Boston Champions (reprint of 6/27/1874)
05/02/08 - cover - x - Cover is a pitcher

These are every picture or cartoon, referencing baseball or cricket, that I have been able to find in Harper's Weekly pre-1900. I would be curious to see a similar list from Leslie's if anyone has compiled one.

[mouschi]

Thank you guys! This is a big help - I do have some incoming now. Not sure how I'll feel about them when they are in hand, but on the web, they look amazing at least!