The Green Bay Packers: The Story of Professional Football

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1946. Hardcover. 8vo. Blue buckram with green spine lettering, pictorial price-clipped dust jacket. vii, 240pp. Frontispiece, illustrations, tables. Near fine/fair. Brodart-encased jacket is rather edgeworn, with a few small edge chips and paper loss at upper right of front panel and expert archival mends on verso, but is complete and overall decent. Attractive first edition of this team history that followed their third (1944) NFL Championship season. This most unusual copy bears four choice autograph additions: Fine, matching heavy stock 5" X 3" cards tipped to front flyleaf (recto and verso) each with a bold ink signature of Packers stars of this era. Front flyleaf (recto): At top is Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony "Gray Ghost of Gonzaga" Canadeo (1919-2003), who quarterbacked for the Packers (1941-52), was the first Packer to rush 1000 yards in a season and the fifth Packer to have his number retired; he signs in blue ballpoint and dates it 14 December 1973 at upper right. Below him is Jack Cronin (1903-93), who played halfback for the Packers in 1922; he signs in black ballpoint and dates it 3 September 1991 at upper right. Front flyleaf (verso): At top is Clyde D. Goodnight (1924-2002), who played end for the Packers from 1945 to 1949; he signs boldly in black ballpoint, adding MD" after his name, dating it 31 October 1983 at upper right and below his signature adding "Green Bay Packers '45-'49 / Washington Redskins '49-'50." Below him is Nolan Luhn (1921-2011), who played wide receiver for the Packers from 1945 to 1949; he signs in blue ballpoint and dates it 18 November 1983 at upper right. Laid in are the ideal bookmarks: All four original transmittal envelopes (Cronin prints name/address at upper left; Goodnight pens return address at upper left). An exceptional assemblage of early Packers players.