1869 Magazine w Baseball Cover and Rules

[FourStrikes]

March 13, 1869 issue of Oliver Optics Magazine with a large graphic of a Baseball Player at left and a smaller baseball game scene at center ( a girl playing croquet is shown at right ) depicted on front cover...at lower right is various pieces of sports equipment, including a Baseball bat and baseball and a Cricket bat.

pages are numbered 161-176, plus a few pages of ads and a full-page B&W plate of George Washington.....page 173 has a feature called "Playground" and this issue's subject is titled "Our National Game", listing baseball rules under the headings "Rule IV, V, VI and VII", an apparent continuation from the previous week's issue.

the front cover and page 173 are the only Baseball-related content found within the magazine.

DS

[aelefson]

Hi-
I love these magazines! The cover stayed the same from 1867-1875 (except for different tints for 1867 and in 1871 when they went to a monthly issue). From what I can tell baseball coverage began in an early issue from 1867 (I have July-December bound for that year and my first baseball related issue is in late July, but there might be earlier ones) and petered out by mid 1870. I have not seen a baseball article in these post 1870. Over the last few years I have posted issues that advertise Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as well as some interesting baseball content about gambling. You can use the search feature if you are interested in these threads. Great magazine, and thanks for posting it!
Yours in collecting,
Alan Elefson
aelefson@hotmail.com