Cap Anson - Early images?
 

*Help needed*

I've seen several images from the late 1860's to early 1880's that include Cap Anson, but all are team cabinets, photos, or supplements. I haven't seen any individual (i.e., "Anson-only") CDV's, cards, or photos of him that pre-date the 1887 Old Judge(s). Does anyone have any early material they can share? Given his prominence in the game, I would have assumed there would have been at least a handful of "Anson-only" studio cabinets or CDV's floating around.

If there aren't any, are there any theories as to why no such material exists?

Derek:

There is an 1874 individual image of Anson, I forget whether it's a CDV or cabinet, which is the same one used in the 1874 Harper's Weekly team woodcut. Sold at auction several years ago, might have been Heritage, I'm not sure.

Re: Cap Anson - Early images?
 

Here's one. I think it's dated 1884. I just read that Cap Anson was the first
player to ever get caught with a corked bat (in 1884).

Here is the Anson that Phil was referring to. It was a part of a collection of 1874 Philadelphia Athletic cabinet cards sold by Heritage several years ago. I believe that they were all cut down slightly and were used to create a composite of the team. It is not mine. The cabinet now belongs to a very advanced collector who has an absolutely spectacular collection.

Yup, that's the one, thanks for doing the legwork, Kevin.

Here is one from NYPL.

Thank you all...Keep 'em coming!!

Later on, but this belonged to Anson himself

http://cycleback.com/anson1.jpg

Did you check out my website, capanson.com? The "photo archive" and "cards and collectibles" pages should help.

Photos: http://www.capanson.com/photo_archive.html
Cards: http://www.capanson.com/baseball_cards.html

http://www.capanson.com/pictures/ansonathletics.jpg

http://www.capanson.com/baseball_car...aldingTour.jpg

Hi Brad - yes, I have frequented your site many times. Can you provide more details about the early Anson photo you posted? Is it a period cabinet photo, or a cut-out from a larger piece or simply a much later photo re-strike?

On a similar note, I've always wondered about the characteristics of the 1869 Marshalltown photo. Is it a cabinet photo?

Thanks for contributing.

Derek,

That's a great question about the 1869 Marshalltown team photo... I'd never gone back to look for the source photo - only seen it cropped on various sites and in publications. I first went to look at some photos I took at a visit to the Marshalltown Historical Society. I remembered the team photo was in the display, but alas it didn't reveal the border.

http://www.baseballcardstars.com/marshalltown.jpg

Just for kicks, here's a photo of Anson's dad Henry from the Museum. He was the town founder.

http://www.baseballcardstars.com/henry_anson.jpg

So then on a whim I tried the Rucker Archive. I searched "Cap Anson" and came up empty. But then I tried "1869 Marshalltown" and success! The source photo with border:

http://www.baseballcardstars.com/Mar...BBCCabinet.jpg

It's described as a Cabinet in the archive info. No info about whether or not there is photographer/studio info on the back of the card though. Would love to know if there is any or not.

Thanks for making me dig deeper!