Winter Auction 2016 Closing January 30th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/31/2016
Encapsulated with Autograph Grade NM 7 by PSA/DNA. One of the most impossibly rare and universally coveted autographs in the baseball collecting industry is presented. With a stellar career in shambles after the 1919 World Series, "Shoeless Joe" retreated to his native soil. Judge Landis' gaveled pronouncement in 1920 brought about Jackson's removal to a life of humble obscurity from which he never emerged. The famous slugger took residence in West Greenville, South Carolina where he operated a liquor store to the end of his life. There, cheering throngs and media adulation were no longer a part of his world, even though he was still admired, if pitied to a degree, by the locals. Jackson had virtually no contact with autograph seekers and, indeed, the belief that he was functionally illiterate – and incapable of signing his own name – was widely held in the hobby for many years. Today, Jackson's signature has been confirmed on just a few pieces: perhaps two bats and a small number of flat items. The superb blue ballpoint specimen offered here – with its nicely shaped characters, confident flow and visually resounding depth – projects boldly from a bright white envelope cut. An extraordinary autograph, this example is well-equipped to become the undisputed centerpiece within an elite assembly of historically important baseball signatures. (PSA/DNA 83294291.)