Humorous Vintage Cartoons, One with a Futuristic View of Baseball.
Lot 117. Humorous Vintage Cartoons, One with a Futuristic View of Baseball. One cartoons is from the March 30, 1889 issue of the English magazine “Punch,” and the other, from the inventive, forward-looking mind of Harry Grant Dart in a 1912 edition of “Life.” A 5.5” x 7” half-page illustration from an 8” x 10.5” page from “Punch” has a illustration of a baseball game with a player apparently sliding. The action is accompanied by a poem titled “Lines on Base-Ball” by “an Aesthetic and Sentimental Young Lady” with these words: “I feel that I could watch Base-Ball / With interest, and even passion / If but the Players wouldn’t fall / In that extraordinary fashion!” The illustration is ex-m; the border has some minor creases. In Dart’s illustration on a 9” x 11” page from “Life,” chaos reigns as fans watch the “World Series International Baseball Championship” game between New York and London from rooftops and numerous types of airborne transportation. A sign on one building advises “Tenants View Baseball Games from the Roof at Own Risk.” Dart’s imagination includes coverage of the game by “Wireless Press.” His cartoons frequently were futuristic and involved aviation. He was a prolific cartoonist who served as art editor of “the New York World” newspaper. Dart’s futuristic World Series illustration is ex to ex-m and free of problems. The border, which is as much as 1.5” wide, has chips, creases and some tears. Winning Bid $30.
