Carver, Robin | First edition of "one of the crown jewels of early baseball books"

The Passion of American Collectors: Property of Barbara and Ira Lipman

Carver, Robin

The Book of Sports. Boston: Lilly, Wait, Colman, and Holden, 1834

Large 16mo (144 x 118 mm). Woodcut vignettes on title-page and throughout, one partially handcolored; inner margin of title-page dampstained and with minor loss at foot, some scattered staining. Publisher's blue cloth, front cover with illustrated paper title label; lacking front free endpaper, lightly worn. Half blue morocco slipcase, chemise.

First edition. Carver's compendium of children's games and sports includes the "First appearance in America of rules of baseball, and earliest American illustration of the game" (Henderson), as well as a woodcut of children "Playing Ball" on the Boston Common.

"One of the crown jewels of early baseball books. … The first time that the name 'base ball' was associated with a diamond-shaped infield …" (Block).

REFERENCE

Block, Baseball Before We Knew It, pp. 196–198; Henderson, Early American Sport, p. 43