4 “Harper’s Weekly” Pages with Baseball Woodcuts or Engravings, 1886-1900.
Lot 115. 4 “Harper’s Weekly” Pages with Baseball Woodcuts or Engravings, 1886-1900. Two pages present the artwork of Harper’s cartoonists – William Allen Rogers on one, and Edward W. Kemble on another. Woodcuts of Charles Comiskey and W. A. (Artie) Latham occupy slightly more than half of a 10” x 15.25” page from the Oct. 27, 1888 issue of the New York magazine. Comiskey was the St. Louis Browns’ manager and first baseman, and Latham was the team’s shortstop. Later, Comiskey was a key figure in the formation of the American League, and he was the founding owner of the Chicago White Sox. The page is vg+ to with a couple of light creases and two small edge tears that have been taped on the back. The Comiskey and Latham images display very nicely. The earliest offering, from the May 15, 1886 edition, is a half-page woodcut of “The New Grounds of the Metropolitan Baseball Club on Staten Island.” The Metropolitans were an American Association team. In 1886, under new ownership, they moved from New York City to Staten Island. The move was unsuccessful, and the team folded after the 1887 season. The woodcut shows a game in progress and well-dressed fans, many of them women, in the stands. The woodcut is ex. The page has a crease in a corner below the woodcuts and a tear well above it. Part of a serialized version of Thomas Hardy’s “The Mayor of Casterbridge” is on the reverse. The June 22, 1888 edition of “Harper’s” provides an article and illustration concerning the “Hall Championship Cup.” Tiffany & Co. created it for presentation to the winner of the championship series between the National League and the American Association. In the 1888 World Series, the New York Giants were awarded the trophy after defeating the American Association St. Louis Browns. The trophy now belongs to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The Harper’s page with the article on the trophy is ex. The reverse prsents a full-page illustration by widely regarded Harper’s cartoonist William Allen Rogers. It’s titled “A street in a Mining Village in Pennsylvania.” Artist-illustrator-cartoonist Edward W. Kemble presents a humorous view of baseball in a full page from the July 28, 1900 issue of Harper’s. In the engraving, he gives “Some Fine Points of the National Game,” which are accompanied by 12 cartoon baseball players. From 1903-07, Kemble was a staff cartoonist with “Harper’s.” He also worked for “Life” and “Collier’s” and illustrated the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” other books and many “Uncle Remus” stories. The page has a vg-ex appearance with some edge tears and creases that don’t affect the illustrations or the text. Winning Bid $40.
