Mar 21, 2024 - Sale 2663

Sale 2663 - Lot 441

Price Realized: $ 1,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(SPORTS--RACEWALKING.) Carte-de-visite of the champion pedestrian Frank Hart. Albumen photograph, 3½ x 2¼ inches, on original mount with photographer's backmark; inscribed "F.A. Hart" in a period hand in lower mount, minimal foxing and wear. Stamford, UK: George Albert Nichols, circa 1881
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Additional Details

Fred Hichborn (1858-1908), a Haitian immigrant to Boston, gained fame as a pedestrian, competing in the long-distance walking races which were popular on tracks across the country in the early 1880s. He used the name Frank Hart, and often went by the nickname "Black Dan." He was occasionally billed as Frank A. Hart. In 1880, he set a record by walking 565 miles in 6 days.

This photograph was produced in England early in Hart's career. He was in England as early as 4 June 1881, when he was arrested in London for robbing and assaulting a French woman, which caused the cancellation of his first English racing appearance.

This photograph was apparently taken at the same sitting as a well-known portrait of Hart held by the Smithsonian and featured on Hart's Wikipedia page. He wears a championship belt in both images. The Smithsonian photograph was used as the basis of his lithographed portrait on a tobacco trading card circa 1879-1882. Based on the backmark of the present photo, we suspect that all three were produced around the time of his visit to England in June 1881.

We have traced no examples of Hart's signature, and it may not be possible to know whether the inscription on this carte de visite is his own.

After the race-walking fad gradually faded out, Hart played a bit of semi-professional baseball with independent teams in Chicago and St. Louis. While his cigarette cards appear occasionally on the market, we are aware of no other original photographs at auction.