(BASEBALL 19TH CENTURY) Brooks Noah The Fairport Nine

Sale 2174 - Lot 40

Unsold

Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500

ONE OF THE EARLIEST BASEBALL NOVELS (BASEBALL--19TH CENTURY.) Brooks, Noah. The Fairport Nine. Frontispiece engraving. 12mo, publisher's gilt pictorial cloth, minor wear at edges and ends of backstrip; inscribed from Stephen Foster to George S. Little, Christmas 1880. [6] pages of undated publisher's ads. New York, 1880

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first edition. The young heroes defeat the thuggish White Bears to recapture the Fairport town championship. The beloved left fielder for the Fairport Nine, Sam "Blackie" Black, was described as "the only negro boy in Fairport." The author was born in Castine, ME and thanks "the old boys of Castine" in his dedication, so we can assume he draws upon his own experiences of boy''s baseball in Maine. Originally published serially in St. Nicholas magazine earlier in 1880. Sometimes credited as the first baseball novel. Although earlier authors ranging from James Fenimore Cooper to William Everett had featured baseball scenes in their work, this was certainly one of the first novels in which baseball played such a prominent role. Gribani 12-2A.