Our National Game 1887

mrburns443

My father recently started selling some of his collection and he came across a book he had stored a way for some time. The title is "Our National Game" published in 1887 by Liebenroth, Von Auw & Co. It's pretty much a scrapbook that also contains 6 lithographs of different phases of the games such as "home run" or "wild pitch". I've done some research and have found a few auctions where the book has sold for varying amounts. What's interesting about this copy is that the original owner used it as a scrapbook for every boxscore from every game of the 1889 national league season. I've never come across something like that before and was wondering if that would make the book more desirable. Are old time box scores valuable or collectible? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

fkw

Not common and not rare...
Ive seen about 10-15 of them over the years in various degrees of condition (2-3 were basically unused), and even a few of the single lithographs removed from the inside.

Yours is the 2nd one to have primarily baseball/sports subjects pasted inside. I remember seeing one that had 90% sports related stuff pasted inside from a few T cards (boxing baseball etc.) to woodcuts and sports related victorian trade cards.

Most found will have victorian trade cards, and sometimes no baseball related matter inside.

Without see scans its tough to put a value on it. The unused ones I saw were a while back on eBay, but brought only a couple hundred $$ if i remember right. If I were to guess, if the book is well organized and has a nice look maybe $1000, but that basically a guess.

Im sure many 19th Century baseball collectors/historians would love to have it. Great demand IMO

show pics if you ever get around to scanning it. Many people here wont know what it is...

mrburns443

Thanks for the response. I'll try and add a few photos. The book isn't in the best shape but i guess that's what you'd expect from a 124 year old item.

Our national game photo album