1860 "Base Ball Player's Pocket Companion." This "Third Revised Edition" of the seminal 1858 publication is considered a "B...

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1860 "Base Ball Player's Pocket Companion." This "Third Revised Edition" of the seminal 1858 publication is considered a "Book of Genesis" of sorts for the serious baseball historian, one of the very first publications to address the rules of the game that would come to be known as our National Pastime in a codified manner. Even the most casual collector understands how scarce is any baseball artifact dating to the Civil War's antebellum period, and few pieces from this small supply could match the offered volume for historical insight. Thirty-five pages reside between the 3.75x5.5" covers, the front of which is embossed with golden lettering and a gloveless figure catching a baseball, with the text split between the rules and regulations of "The New England Game" and "The New York Game," an ominous foreshadowing of the great Red Sox and Yankees rivalry perhaps. Amidst the typed text are found magnificent images of ballplayers in early uniform, labeled as The Thrower, The Striker and The Catcher. Diagrams of the playing fields of each regional Game are also found within. A certain degree of wear must be excused for a book rapidly approaching its sesquicentennial, though the binding still remains essentially intact and all pages are held in place. Handwriting from a former owner appears on the first two blank pages and some light and largely unobtrusive water staining can be found on the few final pages, along with some wear to the last two leaves of paper. The book remains entirely legible front to back, with the vast majority of pages free of any noteworthy flaw. It is believed that only five or six of these volumes survive today, elevating the winning bidder to an elite collecting status where few could follow.