Richter's History and Records of Base Ball: The American Nation's Chief Sport

Philadelphia: Francis C. Richter, 1914. Hardcover. Good. First edition. 306pp., illustrated from photographs. Red cloth gilt. Embossed stamp of Russell J. Schneider on front fly, wear and modest loss to the cloth at the extremities, a few pages roughly opened resulting on chips at the corners of some leaves, a good only copy. Russell J. Schneider, author of a biography of Frank Robinson, among other books, was a baseball writer and reporter for *The Cleveland Plain Dealer*.

As a writer, Richter was an influence in the early development of the game. Beginning with the *Philadelphia Day* in 1872, then the *Sunday World* and *Public Ledger*, he was the first to set up a separate sports' department for any newspaper. Richter was instrumental in the formation of the original American Association in 1882 and helped to place the Philadelphia Athletics in it. The next year he helped to organize the Phillies in the National League and started *Sporting Life*, a weekly newspaper, which became a force in baseball. In 1907 he was offered the presidency of the National League but turned it down. He edited the *Reach Guide* from its inception in 1901 to the 1926 volume, which he completed days before his death. A book generally found in mediocre condition, this copy is no exception.