Leon-More than conjecture, my friend. Here is an ad from a book seller for the 1870 edition. He also had an 1867 edition. This was an annual publication.
1870 - "Baseball Players Book of Reference" by Henry Chadwick
138-pg booklet 4"x6", front cover missing, onion-skin type pages, some at front loosely attached, at the back unattached. Has first page, then jumps to page 20 "Rules and Regulations...". Doesn't look like anything is missing - has basically the same information as the 1867 book described above, includingthe same engravings except for the baseball field/pitcher at front, with the exception of a few introductory pages introducing the sport. This book also includes 18 pages of Peck & Snyder sporting goods ads at the back, including engravings of a baseball shirt, pants, shoes, runners, etc. This is the earliest collection of baseball equipment ads I have ever seen. In 1868. Another significant item: in 1868 "safe hits" was added to score-keeping and detailed instructions on the "new statistic" have been added to this book. Before this, it didn't matter how you reached base!
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