A century-old board game endorsed by Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson will be on sale at this year’s New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.
B&B Rare Books
Memorabilia from the first five members of the Baseball Hall of Fame will be available for sale at the annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair.
The 66th annual fair will be held from April 30 to May 3 at the Park Avenue Armory. More than 170 exhibitors from three dozen different countries are expected to participate, according to organizer Sunday Steinkirchner.
Because she and her husband are baseball fans, this year’s items include artifacts and books, many of which are signed by the Hall of Fame’s five charter members: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.
B&B Books, the rare book firm Steinkirchner launched in 2003, is bringing a dozen items from the Hall of Fame’s Class of 1936, its first.
This antique ball, headed for the New York Rare Book Fair, features the signature of superstar Honus Wagner.
B&B Rare Books
signed balls
The most valuable is a boxed baseball signed by Wagner, valued at $16,000; a ball signed by Ruth and an umpire, valued at $17,000; And an original hard-signed portrait of Ruth, available for $15,000.
B&B is also bringing a ball signed by both Cobb and Eddie Collins, who later became a Hall of Famer, valued at $11,000, and an extremely rare single-signed ball by the late Yankees captain Thurman Munson ($13,000), who died in a plane crash at the peak of his career in 1979.
Future home run king Babe Ruth not only started out as a pitcher but also wrote a book about the art.
B&B Rare Books
Ruth’s how to play baseball And how to throw curves there will be, as well Walter Johnson’s own life story and mathewson’s won in the ninth. A board game called the Walter Johnson Base Ball Game – with the game described in two different words – is also coming.
In addition, early baseball rulebooks and century-old printed references to those rules will be available at the fair. Such works, along with 19th-century publications and artifacts that document how baseball evolved from sandlot to stadium, will be on display at this year’s armory show.
The material reveals how print culture shaped the early decades of sport before the development and expansion of broadcast media.
booming business
“We are young people who are in a lean business,” Steinkirchner said, “learning from experienced vendors while adapting the business to the 21st century.” We are the definition of a small business, started with the goal of making extra income from our bookstore.
After four years, he quit his day jobs.
He added, “We never looked back.”
A book by future Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson will be on sale at the annual New York Rare Book Fair.
B&B Rare Books
B&B buys and sells used books, including first editions pride and Prejudicesigned Ernest Hemingway novels, and The Catcher in the RyeWhich, despite its title, is not a baseball book.
Sanford L. Created and managed by Smith + Associates, the New York event is widely considered the world’s top antiquarian book fair.
In addition to its baseball items, the event blends history, art and literature, attracting new and experienced collectors looking for items ranging from $50 to millions of dollars.
The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America has 425 booksellers as members, including B&B Books.
The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, founded in 1949, consists of 22 national antiquarian booksellers’ associations representing 1600 booksellers from 39 countries.
Single-day admission is $32, with student tickets priced at $10 and run-of-show tickets priced at $75.
The Park Avenue Armory is located at 643 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065.
