1904 Presidents of the American League Annual Meeting Large-Format Photograph by George Lawrence

Sold For:

$480

Year:

1904

Auction:

2022 Fall

Lot #:

2314

Category:

Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

Extraordinary large-format photograph (25 x 18.5 inches, visible dimensions) capturing 13 executives at the annual meeting of the American League in 1904. League President Ban John Johnson is seated in the center, surrounded by the following team officials, all of whom are identified in print below their respective images: Charles Comiskey (Chicago), John E. Bruce (St. Louis), Frank Farrell (New York), Frank Navin (Detroit), C. W. Somers (Cleveland), Connie Mack (Philadelphia), R. L. Hedges (St. Louis), John I. Taylor (Boston), Carl M. Green (Detroit), J. F. Kilfoyl (Cleveland), Robert McRoy (League executive), and Ben Shibe (Philadelphia). The white-letter caption along the base reads "Annual Meeting/American League/Chicago/1904." The size of this photo is not surprising given that it bears the photography credit of George Lawrence in the lower-right corner. Lawrence was one of the most prominent photographers of his era who specialized in images of enormous proportions. One of the most innovative and successful commercial photographers of his era, Lawrence delighted in producing awe-inspiring images of grand size, a fact noted in his business slogan that read "The Hitherto Impossible in Photography is Our Specialty." He was also a pioneer in the field of aerial photography. Lawrence produced several memorable baseball photos over the years, many of which captured World Series action in his hometown of Chicago. This is an early American League executives photo, as the league was in just its fourth year of operation as a "major league." The photo displays discoloration along all four borders, touching upon the images of Johnson, Comiskey and Shibe, but the central image area is free of any significant flaws. Matted and framed to total dimensions of 32.5 x 26 inches. The size/weight of this item requires that there will be an additional shipping charge for this lot. Reserve $300.