Extraordinary 1913-1914 New York Giants and Chicago White Sox World Tour Travel Journal with 50+ Signatures Including Comiskey, Speaker, and Weaver

Sold For:

$12,000

Year:

1913

Auction:

2022 Spring

Lot #:

2255

Category:

Autographed Baseballs/Flats/Photos

While not as well known today as Spalding's legendary 1888/1889 World Tour, which has been extensively documented in several important baseball history books, the global navigation made by the New York Giants and Chicago White Sox in 1913/1914 was, by all accounts, equal to its predecessor in every way and much celebrated at the time. Offered is an extraordinary and perhaps the most unique surviving relic from that historic sojourn: a handwritten travel journal chronicling the earliest leg of the tour as the teams made their way across the country by train before departing from Victoria, British Columbia, for Tokyo on the R.M.S. Empress of Japan. Its historical significance aside, the journal also features four interior pages signed by 58 participants on the tour (players and wives), including five Hall of Famers plus Buck Weaver, Mike Doolan, Joe Benz, Fred Merkle, and Germany Schaefer.Presented in a leather case, the journal was kept by the wife of White Sox manager James Callahan, as indicated by the gilt lettering "Mrs. James J. Callahan" on the inside flap. The gold gilt lettering on the cover reads "My Trip Abroad." The journal entries begin on November 15, 1913, from Chicago as Mrs. Callahan boards a train to Seattle. The tour actually began on October 18th in Cincinnati and had the tourists play thirty games in thirty days, including games in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, California, and Oregon. Most of the journal entries deal with Mrs. Callahan's social schedule during each stop, including sightseeing tours, dinners, shopping, and the hotels they lodged. One entry in the journal is dated Sunday, November 30, which is when the tourists were aboard the Empress of Japan en route to Tokyo. The ship encountered a hurricane at sea on November 29th, and many of the passengers feared for their lives as the waves nearly overturned the ship. The highlights of this book, as mentioned earlier, are four individual album pages signed by the participants of the tour, including Charles Comiskey, Tris Speaker, Sam Crawford, Urban Faber, umpire Bill Klem, Buck Weaver, Mike Doolan, Joe Benz, Fred Merkle, Mike Donlin, Lee Magee, Hooks Wiltse, Hans Lobert, Bunny Hearn, Ivey Wingo, Jim Thorpe (JSA notes that it was signed by his wife), Larry Doyle, Steve Evans, Walter Leverenz, Andrew Slight, Tommy Daly, James Scott, and Germany Schaefer (signed "Prince Henry Schaefer"). All of the signatures are beautifully executed in either black fountain pen or graphite pencil. It should be noted that the signatures of both Schaefer and Donlin are rare, as Schaefer passed away in 1919 and Donlin in 1933. Thirty-six pages of the journal display entries. The journal (4.5 x 6.5 inches), as expected, has moderate to heavy handling wear but is well preserved overall. The outside leather case has areas of surface wear, tears along the spine, and a small piece missing on the lower-right corner. The journal has minor conservation (the interior pages are reinforced along the spine by thin, white string). The four signature pages are free of any significant defects and remain in Excellent condition. Very few souvenirs related to the 1913/1914 world tour have survived. This journal is one of them and represents a most interesting and unique firsthand accounts we have from the tour. Full LOA from James Spence/JSA. Reserve $2,500.