1912 christy mathewson
 

I am awaiting the arrival of a couple of recent acquisitions and thought I would reach out to the masses and see if there is an expert out there that could educate me a little more on the books Christy had published in the early 1900s. The first book is "Pitching In a Pinch" the Boy Scout edition, 1st Edition from 1912 and the second is "Third Base Thatcher" by Everett Scott. It's my understanding that "Third Base Thatcher" was one of the Christy's 6 book series but the only one not written by him.

Regardless, any details would be appreciated.

Nice books, Pitching in a Pinch is still a good read. Both books are reprint editions, however. Still good, but not first editions. The Matty books were mostly ghost written, according to Mrs. Mathewson, by Ralph Henry Barbour. (Letter in collection of a collector”. Both the books you show were issued with dust jackets.

Thanks for the information. I'm looking forward to actually reading them. It's interesting to read something that was written from that period as it gives me the insight through a different lens than from today's perspective.

You will really enjoy reading Pitching in a Pinch.

Can you explain how you identify them as reprint editions?

Matty Books
 

I always thought that Christy Walsh ghost wrote the series for Matty - interesting to learn otherwise. Here is a shot of my set. I think that the wider books with Dodd, Mead & Company at the base of the binding are frequently first additions - in this case Second Base Sloan and Pitcher Pollock. The Grosset & Dunlaps are assumed to be later printings. I think that Deacon Scott "wrote" Third Base Thatcher after Matty had died, so the publisher/ghost writer needed a different author. Book experts can feel free to correct.

As noted above Grosset and Dunlop are almost always reprints. In this instance they are. Pitching in a Pinch was first published by Putnam, in a nice burgundy binding. The Matty books Firsts were Dodd Mead, except for the first one, Won in the Ninth, which was by Bodmer. The bindings are different and dust jackets frequently different. In general, the quality was also different as it is in these books. I believe the content is identical however, although I have not compared illustrations.

Matty Autograph?
 

I've seen two different versions of "autographed" books from the Matty juvenile series. I assume this one is autopen, but some fairly knowledgeable collectors have suggested that I should test JSA. Has anyone seen signed Matty books?

Matty Books
 

Wow, those are amazing!

Now you got me wanting to get a first edition on these.

Looks like first editions of those are going around $400 these days?

I think you can find a nice copy for 4-500 now from a used/rare book dealer.
Often, if you call and order from them directly you can get some benefit ranging from free shipping to 10 or even 20% off.

I'm in no way an autograph expert, but I would seriously doubt that your book is signed with an autopen. I can't tell by the picture, but it appears to be in pencil. Regardless, the risk vs reward is a no brainer - if you have done a basic review of the autograph and it appears real - send it in!

Great item.