1905 Sporting Life Newspaper with Detroit Tigers and Ty Cobb W601 Premium on Cover!

Sold For:

$600

Year:

1905

Auction:

2017 Fall

Lot #:

1792

Category:

Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

Complete November 25, 1905, issue of Sporting Life featuring the 1905 Detroit Tigers W601 team composite on the cover. While we have handled a few examples of the actual 1905 Detroit Tigers W601 Sporting Life premium, this is the first complete Sporting Life paper featuring a W601 image (of any team or player) on the cover that we have offered. A comment on the interior from the editor, Francis Richter, addresses the cover: "In accordance with 'Sporting Life's' announced intention of publishing each week a group picture of a major league team, we present in this issue a fine half-tone picture of the Detroit team, which won third place in the American League race this year." The 1905 Detroit Tigers W601 Sporting Life team composite is of extraordinary historical note due to its inclusion of Ty Cobb, who made his major league debut on August 30, 1905. As such, it is one of the earliest images in existence of Cobb as a member of the Tigers and predates his rookie card by one or two years (Cobb's true rookie card is often debated by collectors, but all of the candidates were issued after 1905). Cobb, who was only eighteen years old at the time, appears in the lower-right corner of the composite and, like all of the other players, is identified in print below his image. Included among the remaining eighteen team members are Sam Crawford, William Armour (Mgr.), Wild Bill Donovan, Germany Schaefer, Bobby Lowe, George Mullin, and Matty McIntyre. An advertisement on the interior front cover informs readers that individual player cabinet photos (W600) can be obtained for the price of "three 2-cent stamps." The remainder of the paper features baseball articles by many of the top sportswriters of the day, including Henry Chadwick, Tim Murnane, and Jacob Morse. The 16-page paper (10 x 14) is lightly toned and displays 3 notebook holes along the left border from having once been bound. All of the covers and pages are detached but present. A few minor chips and edge tears are evident to both the covers and pages. One of the pages has a small application of clear tape along the base. Excellent in its overall appearance. Reserve $200. Estimate (open).