Headliners

  15 Lots      

Also see lots 28, 31-2, 34, 57, 60-3, 73, 76-8, 80, 83-5, 86-9, 92-3, 97-8, 104, 172, 217, 228, 283, 298-9, 303-4, 343 and 388



Lot 1.  A velvet covered Victorian Photo Album, complete with 13 cabinet photos of the 1888 Cincinnati Reds presented by Cincinnati owner August Herman to Long John Reilly. The cabinets are all ex-mt except for one that is trimmed and most represent well-known poses from the Goodwin Old Judge series. Ten of the cabinets, all with Old Judge poses, are from the Schulton studio in St. Louis. The players are Tony Mullane, Manager Gus Schmelz, Hick Carpenter, John Corkhill, Frank Fennelly, Henry Kappel, Hugh Nicol, John Reilly (the former owner of the group), Elmer Smith and Leon Viau. The other Cabinets are a portrait of James Kennan from an unknown studio that is trimmed at the bottom, two from the Watson Studio of Cincinnati in final Old Judge form show a batting pose of John O’Connor and a throwing pose of Bill Serad, both on gray mounts. While not in as exceptional condition, the album is certainly unique, carries an onionskin presentation page “Compliments of Herman the Great”. The cabinets have been removed from the album and put in hard plastic sleeves for safety.
Winning Bid $10,982.


Lot 2.  R319 Goudey near set of 233 missing the Lajoie, the Ruths (see Lot 104) and the 2 Gehrigs (See Lot 105). A very nice collectible set with 141 of the cards (60%) excellent or better and virtually the entire set is very good or better with hardly a crease to be seen. Highlights: 1-Bengough (vg), 2-Vance (ex), 7-Lyons (ex-mt), 19-Dickey (vg), 20-Terry (ex), 22-Traynor (ex), 23-Cuyler (ex), 25-P.Waner (vg-ex), 29-Foxx (vg-ex), 31-Lazzeri (vg-ex), 35-Simmons (ex), 42-Collins (nr mr-mt), 44-Bottomley (vg-ex), 47-Manush (ex), 49-Frisch (ex), 56-Ruffing (vg-ex), 58-O’Doul (nr mt), 60-Hoyt (ex-mt), 63-Cronin (ex), 64-Grimes (ex), 73-Haines (ex+), 74-Rixey (ex-mt), 76-Cochrane (ex), 79-Faber (ex), 89-Speaker (ex), 103-Combs (vg), 107-Manush (ex-mt), 109-Cronin (ex), 110-Goslin (ex-mt), 117-Maranville (vg), 119-Hornsby (vg-ex). 125-Terry (vg-ex), 127-Ott (ex-mt), 128-Klein (ex, o/c), 133-Lindstrom (vg-ex), 134-Rice (ex), 138-Pennock (vg-ex), 147-Durocher (vg), 154-Foxx (vg-ex), 158-Berg (vg-ex), 164-L. Waner (ex), 165-Sewell (ex), 168-Goslin (vg-ex), 187-Manush (nr mt, o/c), 188-Hornsby (ex), 189-Cronin (ex-mt), 194-Averill (ex-mt), 197- R. Ferrell (nr mt), 202-Hartnett (vg-ex), 207-Ott (vg), 211-Wilson (ex), 216-Gomez (ex-mt), 220-Grove (ex), 222-Gehringer (vg), 223-Dean (vg), 227-Herman (vg), 229-Vaughan (ex+), 230-Hubbell (ex), 234-Hubbell (vg); Balance of set: 18% are ex-mt or better, 49% are excellent or better, 29% are very good and 3% are good.
Winning Bid $12,402.


Lot 3.  1948-9 Leaf subset of the 49 rarities. Remarkable, seldom seen offering of a complete set of the Leaf rarities. Highlights: 8-Paige (oversize, excellent appearance but for pinhole), 51-Dark (ex), 75-D.DiMaggio (ex), 93-Feller (vg+), 98-Newhouser (ex), 120-Kell (good), 127-Slaughter (ex), 138-Doby (vg-ex), 163-Hutchinson (vg-ex); Balance: 9 cards excellent, 14 cards very good, 14 cards good, 3 cards fair; See scans for all 49 cards on our web page. See Lot 60 below for the balance of the set with many variations.
Winning Bid $20,722.


Lot 4.  R338 Goudey Sport King Set of 48. Extremely nice medium to high grade with virtually all cards at least very good and most (nearly 75%) are excellent or better. Highlights: 1-Cobb (vg-ex), 2-Ruth (near excellent), 3-Holman (ex+), 4-Grange (vg-ex), 6-Thorpe (ex+), 8-Hagen (ex+-mt), 17-Dempsey (nr mt, o/c), 18-Tunney (vg-ex), 19-Shore (vg), 20-Kahanamoku (ex), 24-Morenz (ex+), 35-Rockne (nr mt front, spot of paper loss on rear), 38-Jones (ex-mt), 42-Hubbell (vg-ex), 45-Didriksen (vg). Balance: 16 cards ex-mt or better, 13 cards excellent, 3 cards very good, 1 card fr-gd;
Winning Bid $10,721.


Lot 5.  An extraordinary once in a lifetime collection of over 310 19th Century woodcuts. The collection was last auctioned in 2002 and sold for $3,540+. Prior to that, it is believed it was part of the Henry Chadwick collection and sold by Du Mouchelles, a Michigan auction house. Time has proven the rarity of a great many of the woodcuts, as many have still never been seen elsewhere. Almost all were meticulously mounted in a 15” x 12”, 106 page scrapbook, which was, according to the 2002 write-up, started in 1875 and put together over ten years. Highlights include an incredibly rare woodcut of Henry Chadwick, the 1860 Brooklyn Excelsior’s with Jim Creighton, a complete set of the N.Y. Clipper woodcuts from 1879-80, never seen teams and many very rare illustrations making a players first (and possibly last) appearance in a photo of any kind. A list is available of the teams and the players on request. The album pages are brittle and exhibit flaking, however the woodcuts are unaffected and in excellent condition. A few smaller ones have come loose from the pages. The individual cut player woodcuts vary in size from 6” x 4 ½” to 3” x 2 ½” with a few smaller. The album cover is loose. A historical collection, which would be impossibe to duplicate and would make the buyer the owner of the best collection of baseball woodcuts known. Addition scans from the collection are on our website.
Winning Bid $13,815.


Lot 5a.  T205 Christy Mathewson Cycle back with rare statistical error on back PSA VG/EX 4. To the best of our knowledge, offered at auction only once before, in our 2008 Auction. The rear of the Cycle backed card shows Mathewson having lost only one game in 1908 rather than the 11 he actually lost which is recorded on every other non Cycle back T205 Mathewson known. The card in the 2008 auction, which was a lesser grade (SGC 3). After the previous 2008 sale ($10,453), I did some research. In my archives were the detailed holdings of prominent T205 back collectors Irv Lerner, Bill Broderick and Bll Heitman, both of whom collected over many years. Neither owned the card despite having many Mathewson’s. It was also clear from these lists that Cycle backs, while not being in the category of Drum, Uzit and Lenox, are a tough back. The Mathewson card is well centered and has a clean back with very clear print, as did the one offered in 2008. There is corner wear and some edge wear accounting for the grade. The type on the back is extremely dark and clear and this is not a case of the type not coming out or a digit being rubber out. At this time the card must be considered the rarest of T205 variations along with "Hoblitzell".
Winning Bid $8,577.


Lot 6.  All-Star Base-Ball complete box by John Dockman with Christy Mathewson and Jack Coombs. Extremely rare set that was a candy box design with two different cards on each side. The cards are crude drawings of players and while actual players were the subjects of the drawing, they bear no resemblance to the players listed that are on the card. While cards from the “ALL Star Candy Box are extremely rare, boxes are virtually non-existent, with at least two known (including this). Full size cards that haven’t been trimmed when removed from the box are also quite rare and in the Standard Catalog Mathewson and Coombs are priced at $5,765 combined. This takes no account of the premium a box would add. The box is complete and has the most minute of defects (a pencil notation on the tab, a tiny crease near a fold line, a spec of dirt). Probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Winning Bid $6,434.


Lot 7.  1929 John Dockman “Star Candy” #21-Babe Ruth. Prior to the summer of 2008, an amazing find of 72 1929 John Dockman cards were discovered in their original box. The cards in the collection included 4 Babe Ruths, a Walter Johnson, Lou Gehrig and 66 non baseball cards. Two of the Ruth’s were auctioned separately and brought $9,400 and $9,988 plus the buyers premium. Single copies of Ruth and Gehrig cards were the only 1929 Star Candies previously known. The Ruth is offered in the original pack (2”x 3”) which was issued in a glassine envelope along with little balls of candy or gum. The card appears to be excellent and has a slight crease in the lower left corner.
Winning Bid $4,400.


Lot 8.  B18 Ty Cobb, Detroit, Red Infield. By far the most coveted blanket in the set is the Cobb red infield and in fact, one of the most desirable Ty Cobb collectibles, much scarcer than the T206 Ty Cobb with Cobb back. It is doubtful more than six exist. This example has been in our consignor’s collection for over 20 years. The offered Cobb is an excellent condition with a border, slightly angled on one side and some minor soiling on the rear, probably from the printing process. The reverse side also has a remnant of the original packaging. An example of the Cobb red infield sold at the Copeland auction in 1991 (19 years ago) for $10,450, and I can find records of two others being sold. There are other B18 Red Blankets later in this auction. See Lots 135-139.
Winning Bid $8,577.


Lot 9.  1877 Chicago White Stockings engraved print with Cap Anson and Albert Spalding. A Historic print from the second year of the National League. The print celebrates the Championship nine of the 1876 Championship White Stockings including Cap Anson, Albert Spalding, Cal McVey and Ross Barnes. Also Charles Waitt, George Washington Bradley, John Glenn, John Peters and Paul Hines. Spalding went 46-14 in 1876 and played first base in 1877 and let Bradley do most of the pitching. The image portion of the print measures 12 3/4” x 10 1/2” and with the matte and frame (no glass) measures 20” x 16”. There are two tiny tack holes about an inch above Barnes head, otherwise excellent.
Winning Bid $4,000.


Lot 10.  1890 G. Waldon Smith Players League Cabinet of the Cleveland Club with Ed Delehanty and Pete Browning SGC graded 70 EX+ 5.5. G. Waldon Smith, one of the more famous photographers of the era, especially of baseball teams in the Boston area, gave us very rare pieces of memorabilia of the Players League teams. The Cleveland team did not fare well, finishing 7th in the 8 team league, however, they did have two very notable players, Pete Browning (standing, third from the left) and Ed Delehanty (seated, second from the left). 13 players are portrayed on a near perfect condition cabinet. The familiar G. Waldon Smith rubber stamp is on the front and back of the card.
Winning Bid $18,997.


Lot 11.  Circa 1905 Baltimore Oriole Photo collection of 86. Spectacular and Historic collection of eighty-six circa 1905 original "cabinet style" photographs featuring various team members of the Baltimore Orioles (Eastern League), exterior and interior shots of Orioles Park, and stadium workers. Each of the photographs measure 3” x 4” and has been affixed to a black cardboard cabinet-card mount about 5” x 6” and nearly all have handwritten notations on the reverse identifying either the person or place. In many cases the date is also noted. Nearly all the photos date from between 1903 and 1906. The collection represents a unique record of Baltimore baseball from an era in which very few images exist. Special noteworthy highlights include two photos of Hughie Jennings, both in uniform, one photo of Ned Hanlon in street clothes, and one of Jack Dunn, in uniform. Dunn became a scout that would discover Babe Ruth. In total, there are 54 photographs of players, 22 photos of the stadium or a game-in-progress, nine photos of stadium workers, and one photo picturing a bedroom in which numerous baseball photos are displayed. These photographs obviously originate from someone very closely associated with the Orioles team. All but three of the player photos bear the handwritten name of the player and date written on the front in white lettering. The photographs are in Excellent to Mint condition overall and the mounts average Ex.
Winning Bid $5,000.


Lot 12.  Complete Set of 1906 Ullman’s “World’s Champions” Postcards of the Champion New York Giants. Among the most distinctive and earliest postcard issues and certainly the earliest team set. Featuring 12 New York Giant Players from their great 1905 Championship World Series team. The selection of the players is curious as Roger Bresnahan is not there and the catcher is Matt Fitzgerald who caught no games in 1905, 4 in 1906, 6 in 1907 and then gone. Even more curious, and to the delight of collectors is the inclusion of Henry Mathewson, Henry was not on the roster in 1905 and pitched one game in each of 1906 and 1907. If you want a card of Henry Mathewson, the Ullman’s is the only one you can find. Other prominent cards are Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Joe McGinnity, Hooks Wiltse, Leon Ames and Mike Donlin. It is believed to be the only set known. The cards all bear the design of Ullman’s well known “Art Frame” series with simulated wood grain borders. Nine of the 12 cards have been sent through the mail and in fact were sent to two recipients. The 3 cards not mailed are Henry Mathewson, Ames and Billy Gilbert. Condition is mixed and scans are provided of all the cards front and back. Highlights: Harry (sic) Matthewson (vg, clean back), Christy Matthewson (vg, ink in lower right corner, postally used), Manager McGraw (gd-vg, postally used), and "Iron Man" McGinnity (gd-vg, ink in lower right corner, postally used). Balance: Leon Ames (gd-vg), Mike Donlin (good, 2 tiny ink spots, postally used), Fergerson (good, postally used), Catcher Fitzgerald (vg, 2 small ink notations, postally used), Bill Gilbert (fair), McGann on 1st base (vg, ink in lower right corner, postally used), Strang and Bowerman (H) (vg, 2 tiny ink spots, postally used), Wiltse (vg, ink in lower right corner, postally used). Additional scans of the back of the cards can be seen on the web page.
Winning Bid $9,746.


Lot 13.  1954 Wilson Weiners set of 20 with four cards SGC graded. Among, if not the rarest, of the hot-dog sets issued in the 1950’s. Well above average condition for a very condition conscious set. Highlights: Williams (SGC 40 VG 3), Feller (SGC V50 G/EX 4, a near mint card but off-center), Campanella (gd-vg), Fox (SGC 84 NM 7), Hodges (SGC 80 EX/NM 6), Schoendienst (ex), Slaughter (vg). Balance: Stephens (vg), White (ex), Sauer (nr mt, o/c), Pafko (vg-ex), Richards (vg-ex), McMillan (ex+), Jablonski (ex+), Kuenn (ex), Hack (vg-ex), Groth (good), Fain (ex), Erskine (ex) and Ennis (ex).
Winning Bid $7,321.


Lot 14.  1951 Bowman set of 324. Beautiful set put together by our consignor in 1951. Nearly 40% near mint, 65% ex-mt or better. There are a good number of gum stains from the original packs. Highlights: 1-Ford (vg), 2-Berra (vg-ex), 7-Hodges (vg-ex), 26-Rizzuto (ex-mt), 30-Feller (ex-mt), 31-Campanella (ex-mt), 32-Snider (good), 80-Reese (ex+-mt), 122-Garagiola (nr mt), 134-Spahn (ex+-mt), 165-Williams (ex+-mt), 181-Stengel (ex), 186-Ashburn (ex-mt), 198-Irvin (ex+-mt), 232-Fox (ex+-mt), 253-Mantle (excellent, gum stain on rear), 254-Jensen (vg), 260-Erskine (ex), 290-Dickey (ex-mt), 295-Lopez (vg), 305-Mays (ex, gum stain) , 306-Piersall (ex), 324-Pramesa (vg); Balance of Low Numbers: 110 cards nr mt, 69 cards ex-mt, 38 cards excellent, 20 cards gd-vg; Balance of High Numbers: 11 cards nr mt, 19 cards ex-mt, 30 cards excellent, 4 cards very good;
Winning Bid $7,088.
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