A few Old Judge questions

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Posted By: Paul

I've finally finished reading the great new Old Judge book (except for the biographies, which I'm working on). I came away with a few questions that I hope the authors or someone else can answer.

1. The book mentions that the only known copies of the N173 McPhee, Beckley and Galvin are in "museum collections." Does this mean actual museums? If so, which museums are they in? I'd sure like to pay a visit to these cards.

2. Some N173s have a large gap above the advertising, just big enough to insert a Dog's Head ad if needed. Others have very little space above the advertising. I had once heard that the ones with the large gap were issued one year (I can't remember if it was 1888 or 1889), while the ones without the gap were issued in the other year. But the new book doesn't support this theory. So, my question is -- why do some have a large gap while others don't? And is there any way to distinguish 1888 from 1889?

3. The book mentions that the Wharton-Tigar collection of Old Judges is in the British Museum. If I happen to find myself in London, is this collection accessible to the public? And does it include any baseball cards other than Old Judges?

4. Finally, a silly question. Is the Art Whitney with dog card known to exist in a Dog's Head cabinet?

Thanks.

Paul

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Posted By: Joe_G.

Great questions Paul, ask and you shall receive.

The McPhee, Beckley, and Galvin cabinets can all be viewed at the Baseball Hall of Fame upon special request through the library. They have an impressive collection of ~250 cabinets (compared to ~450 N172s).

About the cropping on cabinet cards, most cabinets that can be dated to 1888 (such as the colored mounts or certain player/team variations) have a smaller gap (larger photo) while the 1889 cabinets do in fact usually have a larger gap (more aggressively cropped photo). However, there is overlap so no definitive statement was included in the cabinet chapter. For example, the 1888 black mount of Wiedman (pg 61) has a fairly large gap equal to some 1889 cabinets.

The Wharton-Tigar collection was of great interest but our belief that high resolution scans or photos of cards would not be possible kept us from making the trip. The collection does contain other baseball cards yet only a small percentage is baseball. The total number of cards, reported to be 2 million!!, far exceeds the Jefferson Burdick collection (~300,000 cards).

I'm not sure about your final question regarding Art Whitney. There is certainly more than one cabinet of Art with dog but I don't personally recall seeing a "Dogs Head" example. I do not have my reference materials with me at this time so maybe Jay, Richard, or others can chime in.

Best Regards,
Joe Gonsowski

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Posted By: Jay

Just to add to what Joe said, the Wharton-Tigar collection is housed off site, not at the British Museum, and it is available for viewing only by appointment. I too have never seen a Dogs Head cabinet of Whitney and Dog.

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Posted By: Paul

Thank you both!

One more question -- any idea how the Hall of Fame acquired the only N173 McPhee and Beckley? They do have some very nice cards on display, but sure missed the boat relegating these to the library.