Signed - 1893 Spalding Baseball Guide

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Posted By: Donavon Arabie

Guys,

I need some help here. The guide is a 1893 Spalding Official League Book containing records of the 1892 season. It is missing the cover, but all pages are intact & in very nice shape. It contains batting records of Adrian "Cap" Anson & Mike "King" Kelly along with the rookie statistics of one Cy Young. The thing I need help with is the autograph on page 101 of the guide. It appears to be "N. Koeshner". Who is the autograph of & what would an item like this be worth on the market?

Thanks,
Donavonhttp://www.network54.com/Realm/tmp/1226599958.JPG

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Posted By: Rhys

I once owned a Spalding guide signed twice by Tim Murnane from his estate but unless someone was signing it to identify ownership (usually on the first two pages) I have never seen another signed Spalding guide. The signature is not that of 1910's player Elmer Koestner and nobody else with that last name ever played major league ball that I can find so I would guess it was just the guy who owned the book. Value is neither added or depreciated from the signature in my opinion. An 1893 Spalding guide in that shape is somewhere between $100-$250.

Rhys

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Posted By: barrysloate

Rhys beat me to it. The original owner may have just signed his name to it.

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Posted By: Donavon Arabie

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. I just received an email from a friend of mine who has been researching this as well. There was a player named "Koeshner" on the Yale baseball team in 1892. We have yet to find out the first name, but I did notice that page 101, where the signature is located, has details about Yale, Harvard, & Princeton. As soon as I find something definitive, I will let you guys know. Again...thanks for all your help.

By the way, Barry...I missed out on the 1910 Coupon Chance you had for auction. My auction sniper did not work. I was slightly upset to say the least.

Thanks,
Donavon

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Posted By: barrysloate

Sorry about that. It's always interesting to find out the bids that weren't executed. Recently I was bidding manually on a lot in the last half minute, and for no apparent reason ebay asked me to reenter my username and password. By the time I finished typing, the lot had closed. I never got a bid in.

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Posted By: Donavon Arabie

Now that my research is complete, I am putting the guide for sale. I am asking $175 delivered w/ delivery confirmation. Trades are also welcome. I am always looking for high grade 1939 Goudey Premiums R303-B (Black & White) & T213 Coupons (Type 1 & Type 2). The 1st person to say "I'll take it" owns it. Please email me at donavonarabie@yahoo.com

P.S.- Thanks to all that have helped me with my research on this. I'm new to this forum, but the people here have a vast amount of knowledge & are very helpful. Glad I found this site.

Thanks,
Donavon