October Legends
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/2/2013
In the first two decades of the 20th century, New York Giants’ ace Christy Mathewson was the shining example of good sportsmanship and clean living to millions of American boys. This book, published in 1912 at the height of his career, is his “how to” guide to pitching in the Majors. Written with the help of ghostwriter John Wheeler, Mathewson explains how he conserves his strength in order to go the distance in a game and how he sparingly uses his devastating “Fadeaway” pitch to fool the opposition. At the time of its publication this 300 page book stood on the shelf of nearly every library in the land and was read by a
generation of young ballplayers, but what makes this particular one special lies just beneath the front cover: Mathewson has signed and dated the first page ”June 10th, 1912”. Using the advise he carefully relates in this book, Mathewson went 23-12 in 1912 as the Giants won the
second of three consecutive pennants. Mathewson tragically passed away at the age of 45 and while any signature from this beloved Hall of Famer is highly prized, one dating from his heyday on the mound is extraordinary. The original owner had studied the pages of this book well, and as such the cover and interior display moderate use, but the rare signature has been well preserved. This 2nd edition volume is stored in an attractive custom-made red leather case with the book titles printed in gold leaf. This exquisite signed book is one of only five copies known to have come to auction and the condition of this dated autograph couldn’t be finer. Letter of Authenticity from PSA/DNA who have given this beautiful period signature a grade of 9.