Base Ball In Cincinnati (1/500 copies only of the first edition)

Cincinnati: Privately Printed, 1908. Hardcover. Very Good. Black cloth lettered and decorated in red with design of original 1869 Red Stockings player front panel. 277 pp. Illustrated with numerous photographic plates of rare images of teams, ball parks, executives and players.. A tight, bright example, trace of rubbing to the front red stamping. Elegant vintage small bookplate front free endpaper and bookseller ticket corner of front pastedown. Many of the photographs appearing here, including both 1868-1869 images and also images of original players in later years taken especially for this work), are still found nowhere else. After outlining early, pre-professional baseball in and around Cincinnati, this work explores the building and dominance of the first openly professional team, the Red Stocking Base Ball Club, a team so powerful that it went undefeated from late 1868, through the entire 1869 season, and half of the following season. Led by one of the Father's of Baseball, manager and center fielder Harry Wright and his brother, star shortstop George Wright, this legendary group rolled over all opposition until losing an extra inning game to the Brooklyn Atlantics in June, 1870. Final section covers Cincinnati ball from 1876 to 1908. A cornerstone of any serious baseball library.