Show us your "alleged" stolen nypl spaldings...."

[oldjudge]

Five years ago I purchased an autographed Stevens cabinet of Cap Anson from SCP. I was later told by Lew Lipset and Rob Lifson that it was from the NYPL collection so I returned it to SCP with instructions to them to return it to the NYPL. I, however, do not see this cabinet on the list. Is the list complete and, by the way, was the cabinet returned? At the same time SCP had sold another cabinet, a signed Wright, to another collector. I notified that collector and he returned that cabinet to SCP. Was that cabinet returned?

[Freddie Maguire]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Five years ago I purchased an autographed Stevens cabinet of Cap Anson from SCP. I was later told by Lew Lipset and Rob Lifson that it was from the NYPL collection so I returned it to SCP with instructions to them to return it to the NYPL. I, however, do not see this cabinet on the list. Is the list complete and, by the way, was the cabinet returned? At the same time SCP had sold another cabinet, a signed Wright, to another collector. I notified that collector and he returned that cabinet to SCP. Was that cabinet returned?

I've been told that Jim Stinson was offering that exact same Anson (Stevens), the Wright (AG Taylor) and a Nick Young back in 2003.

[oldjudge]

Freddie--Where does it show that they were NYPL pieces?

[19cbb]

According to the 1987 inventory list provided by Freddie Maguire, only the Anson by Falk was missing at the time.

The 1922 inventory just lists another Anson, without citing the photographer, which I suspect is the Stevens.

Here's a link to the 'Stevens' Anson image that is currently hosted in the NYPL digital library... Not sure if this is a scan of the original or a copy.

http://tinyurl.com/komys2

Btw, the 1987 list has some mistakes like the Jordan and Co. examples which in fact are still part of the collection.

I'll try to make a visit to the NYPL prints and photo dept. in mid September and cross check the original 1922 inventory and the 1987 one which they have by now.

If someone is planning a visit before then, ask the photo room staff (room 308) to provide you the updated inventory list. It's a blue bounded book.

[oldjudge]

Jimmy--That is an image of the Stevens cabinet but not the one I had. The one I had was in very nice shape with an A. C. Anson signature on the back. I had posted an image of it in a thread in 2004 but, although the thread is in the archives, the image is gone (Leon--can this be retrieved?). The cabinet had a Letter of Authenticity from Mike Gutierez which I still may have.

[Leon]

Sorry but on the old board those pics expired after about a week. I know of no way to retrieve them UNLESS they were NOT hosted in the Network54 temp files, then they would still be up though. So, if it's not there now I have no way of recovering it (that I am aware of). This new board is a different story......regards

[oldjudge]

If I have it stored at home I will post the image

[Freddie Maguire]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Five years ago I purchased an autographed Stevens cabinet of Cap Anson from SCP. I was later told by Lew Lipset and Rob Lifson that it was from the NYPL collection so I returned it...At the same time SCP had sold another cabinet, a signed Wright, to another collector. I notified that collector and he returned that cabinet to SCP. Was that cabinet returned?

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Jimmy--That is an image of the Stevens cabinet but not the one I had. The one I had was in very nice shape with an A. C. Anson signature on the back...

All I know is that I've been told that all of them are from NYPL collection and in fact the Nick Young in that group was inscribed "Yours Truly N.E. Young January 6, 1888. Which matches exactly the missing inscription.

Also see: http://www.net54baseball.com/showpos...7&postcount=15

[prewarsports]

FYI

Thar Bridgeport photo is not from the NYPL which is why threads like this can be dangerous without proof. I sold that one during the Summer of 2008 and it was from a find on ebay in late 2007 that had nothing to do with Chadwick at all but was part of the estate of a minor league teammate of O'Rourke and his son who is also in the photo. Somewhere I have the name of the teammate. Aside from the fact that I know the provenance of the piece and where it came from, it also was fresh to the market in late 2007 and sold in 2008 and as you say the actual photo was recovered in early 2007 by the library. I applaud your efforts, but you have the wrong photo pictured there. On the bright side, you dont have to worry about any inscription being obliterated because that is the wrong photo and never came from the NYPL.

[Freddie Maguire]

This "$35,000 Beauty" might be my last gift to the board for a while. Might anybody know where this "EAGLE" has landed?

Truthfully, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of posts on the Spalding collection thread. There has been quite a bit of support for the hunt-even a few personal messages-but thusfar the experts on this board have decided to post nothing.

So, how about a little homework assignment for you good men interested in lending a helping hand.

What say you get those scanners ready and head to your own libraries and do some digging for the sake of the hobby?

I'm taking into account the concerns of some board members worried about unwarranted accusations flying. Therefore, here are some cinch locks:

Assignment #1- Post a scan of page 7 of "The Dodgers" by Frank Graham 1948
-Post a scan of p. 40 and 41 of Irving Leitner's BASEBALL: Diamond in the Rough 1972
-Post a scan of p.37 of Robert Smith's BASEBALL IN AMERICA 1961
-Post a scan of p14 and 15 of the MASTRO Nov 2000 Auction
-Post a scan of p.20 of John Durant's THE STORY OF BASEBALL

These are just a few more dots for you. This is your mission, should you decide to accept it. Good luck.

[benjulmag]

Thank you for posting this thread. It is very interesting and hopefully will lead to some good. Though, I do agree with an earlier post that we must be very careful not to cast false accusations on "clean" items. That is not fair to their owners. Sometimes the perception can become the reality and, with no clear evidence an item might be stolen other than matching an item on the NYPL missing list, I'm not entirely comfortable with displaying such an item.

Your knowledge of 19th century baseball memorabilia is quite impressive, as is your knowledge of past events. In fact, in my 25 years of collecting 19th century memorabilia, only one other name comes to mind of one whose knowledge might be the equal.

While we're on the subject of doing good for the hobby, I would like to respectfully suggest we expand the scope of our mission to include counterfeit items. As I'm sure you know, that is another area that presents quite a problem and where well-intentioned hobbyists can suffer serious financial loss. Maybe we can start a thread listing/showing all items discovered to be counterfeit, both to warn future prospective purchasers to stay away from them as well as to highlight what a sinister mind can accomplish with sufficient expertise and motivation. I would like to suggest that for those items we list/display, we also include their known chain of ownership. That way, if enough items are described, maybe there will be sufficient overlap of identity such that, to use your words, "our detective work will even lead us to the culprits."