Auction Item Details
Lot 108
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Lot Number: 108
Description: 1925 Charles Conlon two page handwritten letter with outstanding photography related content. October 2, 1925 dated handwritten letter on "New York Telegram" stationary is signed at the close, "Yours truly, Chas. M Conlon." Fantastic content throughout relates to his start as a baseball photographer, Mathewson being his first (and favored) subject, and the history of a famous and touching image he shot of a young boy dressed as Matty imitating his famed arms above head pose. Content reads in part, "I have taken so many pictures of Christy Mathewson that I cannot identify the one you refer to...I have been taking baseball photos for Spalding since 1904. Twenty-one years ago I went up to the Polo Grounds with a note of introduction to John McGraw...and it just happened that the first picture I made was Matty's. Since then I took a great many...They constitute practically a photographic biography of the game's greatest pitcher, from the days of his youth and strength, through to the crest of his career, and on to the time of his last fadeaway in Cincinnati." He goes on to note "A neighbors 5 year old was quite a chum of mine and he was a great admirer of Matty as he called him. For a birthday present I bought his a baseball suit and he used to pose before a picture of Matty that I had framed - my first one - imitating him. One day I took him up to the Polo Grounds, in his baseball suit, to shake hands with his idol..." Conlon's contributions to the early photographic record of baseball place him among the most important non-player figures in the early 20th Century history of the game. The offered is likely the best handwritten letters of his to have surfaced (among a scant few) given the choice content. Authenticated and encapsulated by PSA and includes Mathewson Collection certificate of provenance: EXEstimated Price Range: ($2,000-$4,000)