An Early "Casey at the Bat"-
"The
outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville Nine that day;
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game...
They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that-
We'd put up even money now with Casey at the bat."
Thayer, Ernest Lawrence. "Casey at the Bat"
(in) A Treasury of Humorous Poetry. Being a Compilation of Witty, Facetious, and
Satirical Verse Selected from the Writings of British and American Poets.
By Frederic Lawrence Knowles (ed.). Boston; Dana Estes & Company: October, 1902.
First printing, presumed 1st state with binding "A" in white cloth.
The first hardcover popular anthology printing of "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest
Lawrence Thayer. The poem had first appeared in the June 3rd, 1888 issue of the San
Francisco Examiner, and was popularized by actor De Wolfe Hopper who recited it thousands
of times on the stage. It was reprinted as a pamphlet in 1901, and a year later saw it
printed in hardcover in this treasury of humorous poetry where it was attributed, for an
unknown reason, to a "Joseph Quinlan Murphy".
The book presents a fascinating bibliographical tangle, with four distinctly separate
states having been identified, featuring three different bindings and two states of the
text. The presumed first issue binding features clown faces and a winged horse's head, and
is known in both white (Binding "A") and green ("Binding "B").
The presumed second issue binding is also in green and features a clown's head on a stick,
framed with a wreath (Binding "C"). There were two separate printing states- one
of which has the poem attributed to Murphy and another where Murphy's name has been
removed completely from the index of authors at the front, and the poem attributed to
Thayer in the Index of Poems at the rear. The first printing state has been observed with
Bindings A, B and C; the second, corrected printing state has only been seen in Binding C.
Hardcover. 5"x7.5", xxiv + 407 pages, portrait frontispiece and 15 b/w plates.
Covers with some soil and a few light spots; Christmas gift inscription on the front
pastedown dated 1902; ownership inscription on the endpaper also dated 1902; one plate
with a short, closed tear; red cloth ribbon laid-in at page 40/41, with slight resulting
discoloration. Pages ever so slightly toned. [03315] $2,000.00
Thayer,
Ernest Lawrence. Casey at the Bat. Boston; Dana Estes &
Company: October, 1902. First printing, presumed 1st state with binding "B" in
green cloth. The first hardcover anthology printing of "Casey at the Bat" by
Ernest Lawrence Thayer, contained in "A Treasury of Humorous Poetry. Being a
Compilation of Witty, Facetious, and Satirical Verse Selected from the Writings of British
and American Poets", edited by Frederic Lawrence Knowles.
Hardcover. 5"x7.5", xxiv + 407 pages, portrait frontispiece and 15 b/w plates. Covers with some very minor wear, tips ever so slightly abraded, spine corners abraded, but overall a very crisp, bright cop. Pages ever so slightly toned. With the period rubber stamp of "Fred. H. Dooley, Denver Wheel Club, Denver Colo." on the front paste-down, front endpaper, and rear paste-down. Fred Dooley's large ownership signature on the front endpaper, along with some notations of dates, running from 12-24-02 to 2-17-03. The Denver Wheel Club was an early bicycling club, formed in 1881, and adds another element of sporting interest. [04190] $2,000.00
Thayer,
Ernest Lawrence. Casey at the Bat. (in) A Treasury of
Humorous Poetry. Being a Compilation of Witty, Facetious, and Satirical Verse Selected
from the Writings of British and American Poets. By Frederic Lawrence Knowles (ed.).
Boston; Dana Estes & Company: October, 1902. First printing, 2nd state with binding
"C" in green cloth and "Casey" attributed to Thayer.
Hardcover. 5"x7.5", xxiv + 407 pages, portrait frontispiece and 15 b/w plates. A
very nice copy, with only a few touches of soil, and a small, light slight stain on the
rear cover. Really a superlative copy of the scarcest of the states of this title. [05108]
$2000.00
