Between the Covers

Double-page wood engraving, measuring about 15” x 21” to the inside edges of a mat housed in a plain unglazed wood frame. One four-inch U-shaped tear with minor loss, else good or better with a few scattered short closed tears and two or three tiny holes. The much sought after premiere 19th Century baseball wood engraving, published in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper on November 4, 1865. The illustration depicts a baseball game in progress together with images of the top players from the local New York area teams. Featured at the head of the illustration is a portrait of James Creighton pictured within a black shroud as he looks down upon the game below. The twenty-one-year-old Creighton had passed away tragically on the field in 1862. This is one of only a few contemporary pieces of known baseball ephemera that features an image of Creighton, considered today to be the first professional player and the greatest player of his era who revolutionized pitching. All of the players depicted underneath Creighton are identified except for one, whom most historians today believe to be the father of baseball, Henry Chadwick. It thus is believed to be the earliest known baseball image of Chadwick, who was amongst the first group of pioneers elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. An attractive, well-preserved copy of this scarce, post Civil War era baseball illustration.

Item #575779