Earliest Book/Publication Mentioning or Describing Baseball?

[cbcbcb]

After seeing an 1835 booklet in Hunt's February auction that depicts baseball, I was wondering what is the earliest American publication known that showed how it is played or described it.

http://www.huntauctions.com/live/ima...=186&lot_qual=

[barrysloate]

The first American book to depict baseball was a Little Pretty Pocket Book. The American edition first appeared in 1787, but since it was originally published in England in 1744, it doesn't qualify as an American book.

The first totally American book to include some rudimentary rules of baseball, as well as a woodcut of children playing, is Robin Carver's The Book of Sports. It was published in 1834.

Please note that Hunt's book does not mention baseball. There were dozens of bat and ball games played by children.

[cbcbcb]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

The first American book to depict baseball was a Little Pretty Pocket Book. The American edition first appeared in 1787, but since it was originally published in England in 1744, it doesn't qualify as an American book.

The first totally American book to include some rudimentary rules of baseball, as well as a woodcut of children playing, is Robin Carver's The Book of Sports. It was published in 1834.

Please note that Hunt's book does not mention baseball. There were dozens of bat and ball games played by children.

Thanks for the information. I didn't realize A Little Pretty Pocket Book referenced baseball.

[barrysloate]

The Little Pretty Pocket Book has a woodcut as well as a short poem about baseball. And the heading of the woodcut is Base-Ball.

[jbsports33]

Barry,

We sold a 1845 American School book with some early baseball images, very similar to the one Hunt Auction had

Jimmy

[barrysloate]

Jimmy- did the term "baseball" appear anywhere in the text? To me, that is the dividing line between an interesting book and a very significant one, particularly 1840's or earlier.

[Jason19th]

A year or two ago I was collecting a lot of these early "baseball" images. I use the quotes because Barry correctly points out that there was many different bat and ball games popular at the time. Still these images and text give great insight into the evolution of the game. I would also point out this was a fairly inexpensiveness collection as I was able to get many of these items for between $10 and $50. I will be very interested what the Hunt item sells for.

The pictures below are from top to bottom
1. The Poetic Garland 1840's- same image as book in hunt auction
2. The Pictorial Elementary Spelling book 1848
3. Cobbs New Spelling Book 1842
4. An ad for Robin Carver's Book of Sports 1834
5. Description of Rounders from The Boy's Own Book (1844-- though section was not changed since 1829 edition)

[D. Broughman]

This is an interesting read and has several pictures of the early game. D.

[barrysloate]

Jason- the most interesting piece you showed is the ad for the Robin Carver book.

And yes, David Block's book is the definitive text on the subject. He also shows many fine engravings that haven't been seen before. It's an encyclopedia of the early roots of baseball in print.