New Arrivals from Between The Covers Rare Books

This next one is for baseball fans. It is an albumen photograph of the 1886 Yale baseball team. They wear striped overshirts, looking somewhat like prisoners, over T-shirts with a big letter “Y” on the front. Most notable among them, holding a bat, is a young Amos Alonzo Stagg. Stagg is not particularly noted for his baseball prowess, though he played the game and coached a college team for 19 years. He is more noted for the 57 years he coached college football, followed by five more years as a co-coach with his son, and some assistant's positions he filled until he was 96 (Stagg, who was 23 at the time of this photo, lived to be 102). Stagg also was involved in basketball, being elected to both the college football and basketball halls of fame. Item 75. $1,750.

Here is another baseball item, and a surprising one at that. It is a broadside announcing Night Baseball Under Flood Lights. The date was May 25, 1931, and the House of David Baseball Team was taking on a team from Quakerstown, Pennsylvania. This was one of the earliest night baseball games, the House of David Baseball Team having played in the first just a year before. If this sounds like an unusual name for a baseball team, the House of David was an unusual organization. It was a large religious commune in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Established just after the turn of the century, Benjamin and Mary Purnell were obviously commanding preachers, and a large community came to live on their property. They developed such attractions as an amusement park, resort, restaurant, a traveling orchestra, and a barnstorming baseball team, which was good enough to take on all comers, including major league teams. Along with raising funds for the group, it was an opportunity to spread their word around the country. They became so popular that at one point they had three baseball teams, hiring nonmembers to fill some positions as they ran out of players. The House of David team was instantly recognizable by their long hair and beards, which can be seen on this broadside. Like the Shakers, the House of David was celibate and long ago stopped inviting new members. It has virtually disappeared, the last surviving member of the baseball team dying last year at the age of 98. Item 76. $575.

Between The Covers Rare Books may be reached at 856-456-8008 or mail@betweenthecovers.com. Their website is www.betweenthecovers.com.

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