Babe Ruth Auction To Benefit Babe Ruth Foundation Closing February 18
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/18/2017
Babe Ruth's Thorne photos have been skyrocketing in recent years—and few are as instantly recognizable or spellbinding as this 8 x 10 inch classic from St. Petersburg. Babe's white undershirt recalls other contemporary shots with Gehrig and Huggins from the Murderers' Row period. And the elegant follow-through pose naturally brings to mind Charles Conlon's shot used for the '33 Goudey Ruth card #144 (and #149). Thorne's hand-captioned stamp appears on the reverse.
Provenance: This lot originates from the "Babe Ruth Farewell Album" that was prepared by the Yankees franchise upon Ruth's death and gifted to his widow Claire, then eventually acquired by Barry Halper and presented in Sotheby's 1999 Halper Auction. The 80-page scrapbook featured photos, news clippings and various well-wishing letters from fellow ballplayers. Each photo reverse exhibits related mounting remnants/wear that in some cases shows through to the front side. This photograph has been classified as Type I by PSA/DNA.
Please note: Due to their routine newsroom usage for publication purposes, all news-service photos generally bear varying degrees of handling wear (creasing, crazing, chipping, etc.) and editorial marks (outlining, cropping, highlighting, background masking, etc.). Goldin Auctions will be donating 5% of the winning bid price of this lot and all lots in this auction to the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum.