Lot 454. 6 Putnam N.L. Team Histories – Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Pirates, Reds. Each of these hardback books, published in the 1940s and 1950s by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, chronicles a team’s history in an informative and entertaining manner and features photos of notable players. One book is by Lee Allen, “Cincinnati Inquirer” sportswriter and Baseball Hall of Fame historian; one by Warren Brown, Knute Rockne friend and biographer and HoF inductee as a sportswriter; two by Frank Graham, New York sportswriter, Lou Gehrig biographer and HoF members as a writer; and two by Frederick G. Lieb, prolific writer and the first sportswriter inducted into the HoF. Three of the books – on the Cardinals, Dodgers and Pirates – have a name and address stamped on the flyleaf. The six books are: “The St. Louis Cardinals: The Story of a Great Baseball Club,” 1945 with 218 pages, vg-ex book, vg price-clipped dust jacket; “The Chicago Cubs,” 1946, dedicated to “P. K. Wrigley and the World’s Championship yet to come,” 248 pages, foxing on end pages, ex book, vg edges-clipped dust jacket; “The Brooklyn Dodgers: An Informal History,” 1945 with 248 pages, ex book, dust jacket f+, inside corners clipped and upper front corner missing; “The New York Giants: An Informal History,” 1952 with 308 pages, ex to ex-m with light foxing inside the covers and on the end pages, g+ dust jacket; “The Pittsburgh Pirates,” 1948 with 299 pages, vg-ex book, g-vg dust jacket with inside edges clipped; and “The Cincinnati Reds,” 1948 with 302 pages, ex book with some foxing on the first several pages, vg+ to ex dust jacket with inside corners clipped. Except for the book on the Cardinals, all of these books are apparent first editions. They are six of the eight books in the classic Putnam Series on National League teams. Winning Bid $55.
