Lot 478. 30 Baseball Annuals and Softcover Publications. These 30 publications, including one duplicate, begin with a reprint of two 1870s publications and conclude with a 1990 promotional almanac. Four are from Spalding, including 1988 reprints of the 1877 “Constitution and Playing Rules of the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs” and “Spalding’s Official Baseball Guide 1887.” Each is nm-m. Originals from Spalding are its “Official Baseball Guide” for 1913, no covers and vg-ex pages, possibly complete, and 1938, g. Reach is the source of three “Official Base Ball Guides”: 1903, p, pages 25-308 present; 1915, g with better pages and including information on the Federal League, and 1929, p, no front cover, vg pages. Four annuals are from Baseball Magazine’s “Who’s Who” compilation of player statistics: 1929, p, pages 3-94; 1962, Whitey Ford cover, g-vg; 1966, Mays, Koufax and others on the cover, vg, and 1991, vg+ to ex. A. S. Barnes & Co. produced the “Official Baseball” annual for 1945, two copies, one g+ to vg and one p with pages 18-88. Two “Famous Slugger Year Books” are included, 1945, nm, and 1971, vg. “The Sporting News” created five of these publications: “Knotty Problems of Baseball,” 1957, p; “1961 Baseball Guide & Record Book” for Tareyton cigarettes, vg; “Official World’s Series Records from 1903 through 1962,” ex; “One for the Book,” 1971, vg; and “Official Baseball Record Book,” Lou Brock cover, ex+. Here is a list of the other annuals and books: “1953 Official Baseball Rules” from the National Baseball Congress of America, ex+; “1956 Pocket Baseball Almanac,” edited by Don Schiffer, 1956, vg; “Baseball Information Guide 1957,” 48-page pamphlet with schedules and lifetime records, vg; “The Little Red Book of Baseball 1964,” vg-ex; “Little League Baseball 1965 Official Rules,” 48-page pamphlet, g; “Major League Baseball 1966” and “1969” by Jack Zanger, 1966 vg and 1969 vg-ex; “The Baseball Rating Book,” Robert Kalich, 1969, vg; “Professional Baseball: The First 100 Years,” edited by Don Smith and Ed Croke, 1969, ex-m; and “Information Please Baseball Almanac,” Cincinnati edition and White Castle promotion, 48 pages, nm-m. Winning Bid $25.
