Verlag: S.I. Bell & Co, Philadelphia, PA, 1891
Anbieter: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, USA
Hardcover. Zustand: Good. Thick octavo. 606pp. Illustrated from engravings. Olive clothboards with gilt and red on the front board, spine stamped in blind, and illustrated endpapers. Boards and spine worn, front hinge repaired, rear hinge starting, and owner name stamps on the endleaves, good or better. Features an engraved plate depicting six baseball moves or stances under the subject heading "Physical Exercise." The moves shown include "Scooping in a 'Fly,'" "Sliding the Bag," and "A La Welch" (we don't know what that last one means either but it shows a man preparing to make a pitch). Though the author's thoughts on the commercial success of the sport are less than favorable, "Base-ball became a national craze. Paid teams and unpaid teams smashed their noses and broke their fingers to the delight of assembled thousands. Work was forgotten. Money was lavishly wasted on the national sport . The great game that was going to do so much for the physical manhood of over-worked clerks and artisans has ended where horse-racing and boat-racing and all kindred sports end. They have all become cess-pools of pollution, out of which nothing but vice and crime and waste and wretchedness can come." Also includes a certificate for six free months of *The Home-Maker Monthly Magazine* with the unused perforated mail-in coupon still attached. A late 19th century example of the "self-help" genre with some interesting depictions of our national past-time. While this title is common, this imprint published by S.I. Bell & Co. is unrecorded by *OCLC*.