(SPORTS CRICKET) The Constitution and By Laws of the Pottsv

Sale 2444 - Lot 271

Price Realized: $ 1,188

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Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(SPORTS--CRICKET.) The Constitution and By-Laws, of the Pottsville Cricket Club . . . to which are Added the Laws of Cricket, and Some Instructions for the Young Cricketer. 36 pages. 16mo, original printed wrappers, rear wrapper coming detached, moderate wear; vertical fold throughout; early owner's signature on front wrapper and title page. Pottsville, PA: Benjamin Bannan, 1858

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Additional Details

A scarce survival from the heyday of cricket in America. Includes the club's constitution, by-laws, rules of the game, and "Instructions for the Young Cricketer, condensed by the author of 'The Cricket Field'" (see next lot). The constitution's preamble states that "through our love and admiration for the noble game of Cricket--desiring to see it become our National Game--we do hereby form ourselves into a Club." In the years leading up to the Civil War, cricket seemed poised to challenge baseball as America's favorite game, though its English ties may have undermined it in relation to baseball's allegedly pure American origins. Other commonly cited factors such as the length of the matches and the need for large well-manicured fields would seem to apply equally to English adherents. None traced in OCLC or elsewhere.