Description
First edition of America’s National Game by Albert G. Spalding.
Octavo, [2], xix, [1], 542pp. Blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine and front cover, illustration of Uncle Sam holding a baseball bat stamped in gilt on front cover. Sepia-toned frontispiece portrait of the author present. Complete with over 100 full-page illustrations and photographs, including five folded plates, all with archival tape reinforcement at folds. Solid text block, clean endpapers. Archival color touch-up to head of the spine. Clean text throughout. Housed in a custom blue morocco clamshell, raised bands, title and author stamped in gilt on the spine.
(Howes S804)
An attractive example of this history of early baseball.
Albert G. Spalding (1850-1915) was a professional baseball player, executive, and sporting-goods manufacturer. Primarily a pitcher, he starred with the Boston Red Stockings from 1871 to 1875 and then played for and managed the Chicago White Stockings, retiring from active play in 1878. In 1876, he and his brother J. Walter Spalding opened A.G. Spalding & Bros. in Chicago, a sporting goods business that sold baseballs, uniforms, and other equipment. After his playing career, Spalding became secretary of the Chicago White Stockings, and in 1882 he became president and part-owner of the club. During the winter of 1888-1889, he organized baseball’s first round-the-world tour to promote both the game and Spalding sporting goods. He stepped down as president in 1891, sold the club in 1902, and moved to California, where he died in 1915. In 1939, Spalding was inducted posthumously into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
