Young Matty's proud pose on the patchy grass of the Polo Grounds recalls the famous first baseball photograph ever taken by Charles Conlon in 1904. However, it was George Grantham Bain who was ahead of the curve and captured Big Six a few years earlier—either in the phenom's freshman or sophomore campaign, according to the white hat style of his Giants uniform. Indeed, avid photo collectors may recognize this very image from its prominent placement in the "Bain's News Service" section of the classic 2005 reference guide, A Portrait of Baseball Photography, by Marshall Fogel, Henry Yee and Khyber Oser. Just one other pitching-pose example from this same Bain Mathewson rookie-era photo session is known to exist and has been graded by PSA/DNA. A third related survivor that was auctioned in December 2010 represents the slight variation of Matty in a batting stance.

The rarefied offering presented here measures 6-1/8" x 8-1/4"—impressively large by Bain standards. The Bain's News Service credit stamping is clearly visible on the reverse, beneath adhesive vestiges and the familiar Culver Pictures overstamping. Sensational image quality brings out Mathewson's golden-boy good looks, the suppleness of his workman leather glove, and the gentle folds of his wool threads. Typical minor peripheral wear from newsroom handling (e.g., surface wrinkles, foxing and a sealed edge tear) little affects our hero himself. LOA for Type I from PSA/DNA. PLEASE NOTE- We have been informed that our consignor had some professional restoration done on the photograph and the back was reinforced. We are including a before and after photo for reference.

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