Rare Americana

Among the New Arrivals to our Rare Book Room are two pieces of Americana representing the country in the second half of the 19^th Century. That era of conflict and growth would begin to decide the evolutionary paths of countless institutions now understood to be ‘American,’ and our national pastime of baseball was no exception. Currently for sale at the shop is a magnificent primary source of this history, The Base Ball Player's Pocket Companion (Boston: Mayhew & Baker,1860). What is remarkable about this item is not only its novelty as an enduring record of how baseball was played and regarded by its early devotees, but its existence as a preserved tool once used to spread and grow the malleable 19^th century game into the established 20^th century sport, business, and institution. From the pamphlet’s explanation of the wildly divergent rules for both the “Massachusetts” and “New York” games, one can imagine groups of contemporary players deciding for themselves which game would endure. Even a cursory glance at the options hint at why our baseball evolved within the parameters of the New York game, and it was because of publications like this 1860 guide – and the good sense of our 19^th century ancestors – that it did. The pamphlet is available housed in a velvet-lined, grey cloth clamshell case, for $12,500.

Baseball was well into its organized professional (if not entirely modern) stage in 1888 when Ernest L. Thayer wrote his final San Francisco Examiner column, a playful piece of narrative verse depicting the spectacular failure of a hometown baseball hero. Since its publication Casey at the Bat has managed to survive in popular memory, and even those with little interest in the game it celebrates can recognize it most famous lines. Few poems, however, can long endure in our consciousness as poems alone, and over the years others have helped maintain the crucial sizzle of Thayer's steak. Perhaps its most famous exponent was the vaudevillian William De Wolfe Hopper who - during stage performances, curtain calls, and, one must imagine, before every meal - is alleged to have recited Casey over 10,000 times! But the poem also survived in various printed forms, with an excellent copy of the first book edition (Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1912) featuring the text enhanced by Dan Sayre Groesbeck's color illustrations now available in the shop, priced $3,750. The book is a splendid, collectible version of the poem that has remained, as its original subtitle claims, A Ballad of the Republic.

Follow this link http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_case.shtml for more information on the history of Casey at the Bat, including an audio recording of a Hopper performance.