NY, Simon and Schuster, 1st, 1967, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 256 pages, 16 pages of B&W photos. Over a 45 year span the Yankees were the most magnetic drawing card in American sports. Why did the House That Ruth Built come tumbling down after so many years of triumph? Long inscription on front fly leaf otherwise clean.

Hardcover. Chicago, Ziff-Davis Publishing , 1st, 1948, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a worn, chipped dust jacket that has the $2.50 flap price. The Brooklyn Dodgers and Leo "Lippy" Durocher were made for each other. Here are the breezy accounts of internal struggles, clubhouse brawls and front-office tempests that marked the Dodgers climb to national fame and the National League Pennant. Has green boards and is in good condition. Has a number of black and white photos: Pete Reiser, Pee Wee Reese, Al Gionfriddo's World Series catch, and Leo arguing with the umpires. Mild soil and rubbing to rear of dj, book is bright and clean.

Hardcover. Boston, Little, Brown & Co., 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a bright, lightly worn dust jacket. The author's humorous look at professional golf, it's stars and off-beat personalities. Mild soil to the dust jacket, no markings.

Hardcover. MY, Harcourt Brace & Co., 2nd pr., 1939, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, orange cloth stamped in black, 267 pages, b&w illustrations by James MacDonald. A boy's novel about track and field competition. Jim Wellington, Harvard senior and Waterloo, Iowa native, already the U. S. collegiate record holder for the two-mile, heads to Berlin for the Olympics. Inscription on front fly leaf, otherwise a clean, bright copy. Lacks dust jacket.

Hardcover. NY, William Morrow & Co., 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 365 pages, b&w illustrations. Stauth uncovers the business behind the Detroit Piston's NBA championship in 1989. He traces the building of the winning team: the draft choices, signing of free agents, and timely trades, all adding up to the proper team chemistry, the vital key to any championship. The man behind the franchise is no-nonsense general manager Jack McCloskey. Stauth's narrative is the exceptional story of the Pistons and their rise to NBA success. He pulls no punches; much of his book reflects the attitudes of players and management as well as the media. Although many will question Stauth's condemnation of certain practices in professional basketball, this is one of the best books ever on professional sports. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Birch Lane Press, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 216 pages, b&w illustrations. Recounts the 1969 New York Jets' upset victory over the Baltimore Colts in Superbowl III, a game that established the viability of the American League, in a study featuring interviews with the Jets' championship players and coaches. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Harper, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. The Glory Game recreates in breathtaking detail the 1958 National Football League Championship Game between the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts, which many football fans feel was "The Greatest Game Ever Played." This first-hand, field level, "behind-the-helmet" account by ex-Giant Hall of Famer and longtime "Monday Night Football" broadcaster Frank Gifford brings back to life all the sights and sounds of the momentous contest that changed football forever, and offers vivid, indelible portraits of the legendary players--including Sam Huff, Andy Robustelli, Art Donovan, Lenny Moore, and Raymond Berry. The Giants-Colts clash of '58 was truly The Glory Game--and now readers can relive it in all its glory. Clean copy.

Softcover. NY, W. W. Norton & Company, 1st US, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, Advance Reading Copy, 408 pages. The seven-foot Dirk Nowitzki is one of the greatest players in basketball history. The Dallas Maverick's legend revolutionized the sport, redefining the role of the big man in the modern game. Dirk moved differently: flexible and fast, confident and in control. He thought differently, too. On the court, his shots were masterful-none more venerated than his signature one-legged flamingo fadeaway, a move that lives on in the repertoire of today's most skilled NBA players. How did this lanky kid from the German suburbs become an all-time top ten scorer and NBA champion? How can a superstar stay so humble? Award-winning novelist and sportswriter Thomas Pletzinger spent over seven years traveling with Nowitzki. He witnessed Dirk's summer workouts, involving fingertip pushups and the study of the physics, and spent days discussing literature and philosophy with Holger Geschwindner, Dirk's enigmatic mentor and coach. Watching Nowitzki in empty gyms and in packed arenas with 30,000 fans, Pletzinger began to understand how Dirk and Holger's philosophical insights on performance, creativity, and freedom enabled his success and longevity. This proof edition lacks the photo section. Clean copy.

Hardcover. UK, Sutton Publishing, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 244 pages, b&w photos. In 1908 talented black US fighter Jack Johnson won the heavyweight championship of the world from the Canadian Tommy Burns. There was an immediate storm of protest. Writers, including Jack London, and politicians feared the accession of the fearless and outspoken Johnson would threaten white supremacy. It was predicted that his reign would lead to civic unrest and race riots. Over the next seven years, more than 30 white fighters tried to beat Jackson, lured by the prospect of fame and a quick buck. It was not until 1915 that Jackson lost his crown, and during the years in between an extraordinary human drama was played out on the boxing world stage. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, The Dial Press, 1st, 1974, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, black cloth with red gilt lettering on cover and spine. No dust jacket. It was the year the Babe hit 60 and Lou Gehrig hit 47 home runs and drove in 175 runs. Plus the team had Bob Meusel, Tony Lazzeri, Earle Combs, Herb Pennock, Urban Shocker, and manager Miller Huggins. The team won 110 games (in a 154 game season) and won the pennant by 19 games. Inscription on front fly leaf otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, D. Appleton and Company, reprint, 1901, Book: Good, Hardcover, terra-cotta cloth with red and black lettering and illustrations on front cover and spine. Six b&w plates by B. West Clinedinst. Title page dated 1901, copyright page dated 1899. Previous owner's inscription on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, Knopf, 1st, 1958, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover. 154 pages. Profusely illustrated in b&w. A collection of cartoons by Andre Francois, whose work often appeared in Punch magazine as well as in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Atlantic Monthly, and Picture Post. Clean, light wear to dust jacket, price clipped.

Hardcover. NY, New York Yacht Club, 1st, 1975, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Two hardcover volumes, red cloth stamped in gilt with round gold New York Yacht Club ["NYYC"] insignia on the front covers. Matching red slipcase. 622 pages total. with additional material, by Robert W. Carrick. Frontis. in color. many b/w illustrations. Clean, bright set.

Hardcover. NY, Grosset & Dunlap, Revised Ed., 1956, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, price-clipped dust jacket. 253 pages, b&w photos. Expanded with new material for this 1956 editon. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Da Capo Press, 2nd pr., 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket with autographed sticker. SIGNED BY COLLINS on the title page. Inscribed by the author on the front fly leaf. Clean, bright copy. Every summer, in ten small towns across Cape Cod, young college baseball players showcase their talents in hopes of making it to the "show." A vicious filter, the league has produced one out of every six major league players, from Nomar Garciaparra and Todd Helton to Jeff Bagwell and Barry Zito.In this brilliantly crafted narrative, Jim Collins chronicles a season in the life of the Chatham A's, perhaps the most celebrated team in the Cape Cod Baseball League. Set against a seemingly bucolic backdrop--a well-heeled resort town on the bend of the outer Cape -- the story charts the changing fortunes of a handful of players, all of whom battle slumps and self-doubt in an effort to impress major league scouts and make the playoffs. Several players go home with career-threatening injuries; one blue-chip prospect fulfills great expectations while another is dubbed "the biggest disappointment on the Cape." A pitcher hides an arm injury while negotiating a minor league contract; another leaves early to tend to his dying father. And nearly all look to the following year's major league draft as a barometer of their worth.

NY, Paul S. Eriksson, 1st, 1974, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket with light edgewear. 174 pages, b&w photos. One of the NBA's great all-time guards tells his life story from the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant to coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Clean copy.

Softcover. Los Angeles, Rosebud Books., 1st, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, pictorial covers with edgewear. 96 pages illustrated with b&w and color photos. A recap of the 1981 season with profiles of players, statistics. Clean copy.

Softcover. Bath ME, Anderson & Sons Publishing, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 140 pages, b&w illustrations. New England has been the birthplace of over 1100 major leaguers. In between the well-known and the unknown are several tiers of other ballplayers. This book pays tribute to those tiers closest to the top. Bright, clean copy.

Hardcover. Open Road Ski Company, 1st, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 289 pages. Featuring over 200 ski resort trail maps hand-painted by one legendary artist, this beautiful 292-page hardcover coffee table book is the first and definitive compilation of the art created by James Niehues during his 30-year career. Eight geographically themed chapters form the heart of the book, offering you full-page images of the world's most iconic ski areas including Alta, Arapahoe Basin, Aspen, Breckenridge, Big Sky, Deer Valley, Heavenly, Jackson Hole, Jay Peak, Killington, Kirkwood, Lake Louise, Mammoth, Mont Tremblant, Mt. Bachelor, Park City, Revelstoke, Snowbird, Squaw Valley, Stowe, Sugarloaf, Sun Valley, Taos, Telluride, Whistler Blackcomb and other renowned resorts. In engaging narrative that complements the maps, Niehues reveals his exacting technique, which demands up to six weeks to complete a single painting. He then walks you through the step-by-step process for mapping Breckenridge, sharing everything from aerial photographs, to numerous pencil sketches, to in-progress builds, to the final trail map illustration. Clean copy. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. Open Road Ski Company, 1st, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 289 pages. Featuring over 200 ski resort trail maps hand-painted by one legendary artist, this beautiful 292-page hardcover coffee table book is the first and definitive compilation of the art created by James Niehues during his 30-year career. Eight geographically themed chapters form the heart of the book, offering you full-page images of the world's most iconic ski areas including Alta, Arapahoe Basin, Aspen, Breckenridge, Big Sky, Deer Valley, Heavenly, Jackson Hole, Jay Peak, Killington, Kirkwood, Lake Louise, Mammoth, Mont Tremblant, Mt. Bachelor, Park City, Revelstoke, Snowbird, Squaw Valley, Stowe, Sugarloaf, Sun Valley, Taos, Telluride, Whistler Blackcomb and other renowned resorts. In engaging narrative that complements the maps, Niehues reveals his exacting technique, which demands up to six weeks to complete a single painting. He then walks you through the step-by-step process for mapping Breckenridge, sharing everything from aerial photographs, to numerous pencil sketches, to in-progress builds, to the final trail map illustration. Clean copy. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

NY, Random House, 1st, 1981, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. For Stanley Cohen, baseball is the prism through which he views the events of the last seventy years. His narrative spans four generations as he recounts in sparkling prose how, for his immigrant father, sports was a means of assimilation into life in the New World; the warmth of watching his son and, later, his grandson both fall heir to his devotion; and how the game of baseball has provided his life with its truest sense of continuity. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Chicago, Follett Publishing, 1st, 1977, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 305 pages, b&w illustrations. In this edition, Honig interviews player-managers Ossie Bluege, Roger Peckinpaugh, and Hall of Famers Burleigh Grimes and Al Lopez, among others. This time, you read the stories of a manager's point of view as well, which is very interesting. This book is about a rookie third baseman coming up the line to tag out a lumbering Ty Cobb. About Early Wynn just walking into a tryout camp and announcing himself. About how the Chicago White Sox didn't always play to win in 1919-20. One of the more memorable parts is Roger Peckinpaugh reflecting on how the illiterate Shoeless Joe Jackson had to listen to what his teammates ordered for dinner first because he could not read the menu. Clean copy.

Dallas, Taylor Publishing, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 228 pages, b&w illustrations. Includes appendix of player statistics. Recalls the record-breaking New York Yankees, the only team in baseball history to win five consecutive World Series, offering the remembrances of the greatest Bronx Bombers.

Hardcover. Dallas, Taylor Publishing, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, price-clipped dust jacket. Includes appendix of player statistics. Recalls the record-breaking New York Yankees, the only team in baseball history to win five consecutive World Series, offering the remembrances of the greatest Bronx Bombers. 228 pages, b&w photos.

Hardcover. NY, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1st, 1975, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. The most exciting season in baseball climaxed by Bobby Thomson's legendary home run to win the pennant for the Giants. 284 pages, b&w photos. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. Boston, Little Brown, 1st, 1999, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Castel Di Sangro is a tiny town in the Abruzzo region of Italy, whose soccer team became an international sensation by winning promotion to the highest levels of national competition. For the team from this tiny village to be playing against the teams of Genoa and Venice was more than a dream come true, it was inconceivable. But the truth can be stranger than dreams, as Joe McGinniss discovered when he arrived in Castel Di Sangro. A recent convert to soccer, he wanted to experience life in a town turned upside down by the game. What he found was a cavalcade of euphoria, betrayal, grief, and euphoria again, an entire town living in an emotional frenzy unlike anything since the local battles of World War II. McGinniss lost himself totally to the team, a boisterous collection of characters whom readers will grow to love, and found a story whose depth and power enthralled him. Like Field of Dreams, Hoosiers, and The Secret of Santa Vittoria, this is a masterpiece of storytelling that transcends sports to embrace universal emotions. Clean, bright copy.

Softcover. South Bend IN, Icarus Press , 1st, 1983, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 176 pages. The Winning Ugly Sox were a scrappy team that captured the heart of the city of Chicago as its first champions in more than 25 years. Bob Logan's book gives a very detailed account of the season in "Miracle of 35th Street". Because the book was published shortly after the season, questions are left with an open end. It seemed as though the team would return to the playoffs. The pitching staff that seemed destined to prelude a dynasty dissolved with injuries and other problems. Several position players never reached their potential causing the Sox to plummet in the standings in the remaining years of the 80's. Light shelf wear, clean copy.

Hardcover. Englewood Cliffs NJ, Prentice Hall, 1st, 1976, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. An entertaining profile of the iconic New York Jets quarterback. Clean copy.

Softcover. Cleveland OH, The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), 1st, 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in pictorial wraps, 382 pages. Based on the field's most prolific, imaginative, and best-known scholars, this ultimate reference work on the Negro Leagues includes a complete register of all the players--3,400 names, with positions and teams from before the turn of the century into the 1950s--annual rosters, in-depth histories, and more than 75 original photographs.

Hardcover. NY, Macmillan , 1st, 1970, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a dust jacket, 383 pages. Ex-lib with light stamping, spine label, dust jacket glued to covers. Clean inside. The complete and authoritative history of the Mets. Has 150 pages of records: the team, every player, each season. Has 64 pages of action and behind-the-scenes photographs of the team and the players. Filled with action and anecdote, from October 17, 1960 when the National League awarded a franchise to New York to the miracle year of 1969 and the Mets were World Champions.

Hardcover. Chicago, Contemporary Books, 1st, 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 227 pages. Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro (1939-2020) was THE face of the Atlanta Braves between the Hank Aaron and the Dale Murphy eras. Joe Niekro (1944-2006) pitched for the 1987 World Series champion Minnesota Twins. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Wiley, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 320 pages. Having signed the most lucrative contract in NHL history with the Washington Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin, at 24, is an undisputed hockey legend. In the mold more of a rock star than hockey player, Ovechkin courts the limelight, is never shy with his opinions, and, in a sport that thrives on the collective culture of the team-Ovechkin is an iconoclast who flouts convention, while loving the game. In The Ovechkin Project, veteran hockey writers Damien Cox and Gare Joyce trace his elite sports pedigree, his role representing Russia in the World Juniors, and how since entering the NHL, he's taken his team from worst to first in their division, and the hockey world by storm. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Henry Holt and Company, 2nd pr., 1956, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Fair, Hardcover in a worn, chipped dust jacket. A good read about a sorrowful (for an old Philadelphia A's fan) subject. Mehl gets right into his subject and brings it all together, particularly all the work Arnold Johnson had to do to get Kansas City ready to receive its new franchise and how the city came together and the minor league ballpark was reconstructed to meet Major League standards. 8 pages of b&w photos. No marking.

Hardcover. NY, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket with light edgewear, 304 pages. The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers won 33 consecutive regular season games on their way to a championship. The team, built around future Hall-of-Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, was coached by a third Hall member, Bill Sharman. Rosen, author of five novels and coauthor, with Phil Jackson, of More Than a Game (2001), traces the team from training camp through the start of the next season. His dual focal points are Sharman and Chamberlain. Sharman, who played with Bill Russell in Boston, convinced Chamberlain to play a more Russell-like style, emphasizing passing and teamwork. Rosen provides background for all the principals, context for games in the streak, as well as an account of the team's play-off run to the championship. This is wonderful reading for NBA history buffs, replete with anecdotes, humor, and revealing profiles. Mild soil, shelf wear, no markings.

Hardcover. Milwaukie OR, M Press, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. The third installment of Playboy interviews gives their claim some validity (although probably not enough). The first two collections were grouped under the topics of sports figures and film directors, while the latest simply has the designation "Larger Than Life," and indeed those interviewed were awfully big for their britches. The interviewees include Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, Bob Dylan, Mae West, and Muhammad Ali, among others. The interviews--in true Playboy fashion--are revealing, but also fascinating to realize are the periods in which they occurred. Sinatra was interviewed in 1963, and the cold war was definitely on his mind. Bette Davis, in 1982, had a long career of ups and downs to sound off about. But Muhammad Ali is the perfect example of how honest these personalities could become when allowed to digress; asked why he flunked the army's preinduction test, he replied, "I have said I am the greatest. Ain't nobody ever heard me say I was the smartest." 398 pages, clean copy.

Hardcover. Boston, MFA Publications, 1st, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. 295 pages in color. In the decades around 1900, a postcard craze swept the world, and billions of cards were bought, mailed and pasted into albums. Many famous artists turned to the new medium, but one of the great pleasures and enigmas of postcards is how some of the most beautiful and interesting examples were made by artists whose names we barely know. Drawing on the riches of the Leonard A. Lauder Postcard Collection (probably the finest and most comprehensive collection of its type), this gorgeous book traces the historical and cultural themes--enthralling, exciting, and sometimes disturbing--of the modern age. The first general publication on the postcard as an artistic medium since the mid-1970s, The Postcard Age is organized thematically, with chapters devoted to urban life, the changing role of women, sports, celebrity, new technologies, the stylish collectors' cards of Art Nouveau and World War I. The result is at once a vivid picture of the concerns and pastimes of the turn of the century and a sampler from the Lauder's vast archives. Still in publisher's shrink wrap.

Hardcover. NY, Henry Holt, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Years of watching the Boston Red Sox baseball team playing at Fenway Park with his father, grandfather, and then his son, allows Higgins to talk about the simple game, so difficult to play.

Hardcover. NY, Garden City Books, BC Ed., 1957, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Book Club edition, 192 pages. Bright, clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Garden City Books, BC Ed., 1958, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Book Club edition, 216 pages. Bright, clean copy.

Softcover. Jefferson NC, Mcfarland & Co , 1st, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 174 pages. In early 1869, Harry Wright of the Cincinnati Base Ball Club made an announcement to the sporting press: the Red Stockings would be the first all-professional club in the history of the game. The outcry could be heard in nearly every town in which the sport was played. Wright, however, paid little heed to their protests and went about his business of signing players. By the start of the season he had inked ten players to contracts, with salaries ranging from $600 to $1,400 annually. By June of 1870, the Red Stockings had compiled a 90-game winning streak and were recognized as the finest team in the game. How the Red Stockings were formed, who the players were, and why things came to an end are all fully covered in this detailed history.

Softcover. Lincoln NE, Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 247 pages, b&w illustrations. In the spring of 1968, the Omaha Central High School basketball team made history with its first all-black starting lineup. Their nickname, the Rhythm Boys, captured who they were and what they did on the court. Led by star center Dwaine Dillard, the Rhythm Boys were a shoo-in to win the state championship. But something happened on their way to glory. In early March, segregationist George Wallace, in a third-party presidential bid, made a campaign stop in Omaha. By the time he left town, Dillard was in jail, his coach was caught between angry political factions, and the city teetered on the edge of racial violence. So began the Nebraska state high school basketball tournament the next day, caught in the vise of history. The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central tells a true story about high school basketball, black awakening and rebellion, and innocence lost in a watershed year. The drama of civil rights in 1968 plays out in this riveting social history of sports, politics, race, and popular culture in the American heartland.

Hardcover. NY, Random House , 2nd pr., 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 421 pages. Taylor offers a vivid account of the fledgling days of the National Basketball Association and the intense competition between two of its biggest early stars: Bill Russell (of the Boston Celtics) and Wilt Chamberlain (of the Philadelphia 76ers). While both players were dominant men who anchored their respective teams, their personalities differed greatly. The quiet, reflective Russell turned a serendipitous showing in front of a scout into a legendary career largely through willpower and hard work, while the outgoing Chamberlain was a much more naturally gifted athlete whose skills drew attention and offers while he was barely a teenager. Taylor highlights this distinction, asking, "[C]ould determination trump talent?" Along with examining the physical and psychological battles between the two, Taylor depicts the NBA's raucous nature in the 1950s and '60s, when fights between players were frequent, and the brash Celtics coach Red Auerbach was routinely pelted with rotten tomatoes, lit cigars and eggs. Looking at everything, from each player's private demons to the racially charged era in which they competed, Taylor's book is by turns an intimate profile and a spirited look at the foundation of modern professional basketball. Mild soiling to text block, no markings.

Hardcover. Toronto, Random House Of Canada, 1st Ltd. Ed., 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover. This is the Limited Signed Edition (#450 of 500), AUTOGRAPHED BY BOBBY ORR & HENRI RICHARD on the prelim page under a color photo of them squaring off in the 1971 Stanley Cup quarter finals. The book has a bright dust jacket and is housed in a maroon cloth slipcase stamped in gilt. All clean and bright. The Spirit of the Game is the first photo book to organize the story of hockey both chronologically and thematically, cutting across simple time lines or team-by-team organization. It is also a book full of detail about how hockey has changed - from skates to TV cameras, from the rule book to the fans in the seats. Photos span 106 years from the Montreal AAA, Senior Amateur champions of 1889, to the New Jersey Devils, Stanley Cup champions of 1995.

Softcover. Laurel MD, Den's Collector's Den, 1st, 1979, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 156 pages illustrated in b&w and color. Paper spine reinforced with clear tape. Otherwise clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 6th pr., 1973, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 333 pages, b&w illustrations by Walter Dower.

Hardcover. West Chester PA, Schiffer Publishing, 1st, 1984, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 128 pages illustrated in color and b&w. The story of the life and works of an American wildfowl artist. Lem's life is a tale of courage - of a man who overcame a withered arm, lack of formal education, cultural isolation, and severe illness to become one of the founders of American Wildfowl Art. This is a close look at how he and his brother, Steve, grew up together in the marshes along the Chesapeake Bay, how they subsisted as barbers and foragers, how they retained their independent spirits to create birds that pleased them - wildfowl art - while carvers around them were creating decoys just good enough for hunting ducks. Lem's work is described in pictures, accompanied by colorful comments and interesting insights by a collector who became one of the artist's closest friends. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Chicago, Rand McNally , 1st, 1953, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Poor, Hardcover, brown cloth with a very worn, tape-repaired dust jacket. 325 pages, b&w illustrations. Book is clean, very good. The dust jacket, not so much.

Softcover. Berkeley/Denver, Frog Ltd./Domo Productions, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 186 pages, b&w illustrations. This first volume covers basic sword movements (kenjutsu) and aikido open-hand techniques (taijutsu), beginning with training hall (dojo) etiquette, foundational body movements, and the art of falling (ukemi). Over 1,600 drawings and photographs show each stage of the foot and hand movements for dozens of sequences. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Viking Press, 1st, 1972, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. bit of fading to the green top edge. Angell was the consummate writer on baseball, and this, his first baseball book, is one of his major achievements. Thoughtful, funny, appreciative of the elegance of the game and the passions invested by players and fans, it goes beyond the usual sports reporters beat to examine baseballs complex place in our American psyche. Owner's inscription on the half-title page, light creasing to rear flap, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, A. S. Barnes, 1st, 1949, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Fair, Hardcover, brown boards with green letting on the front cover and the spine. Dust jacket is fair only with tape repairs, chipping and a chunk gone from bottom of spine. Novel about the Quaker City Quakers, a major league team closely based on the Whiz Kids-the Philadelphia Phillies, with the main characters of the book closely based on the real Whiz Kids. For instance, Phillie coach Bennie Bengough was portrayed as Bennie Benson, Robin Roberts as Rossiter, Richie Ashburn as Robbie Ashton, etc. O'Rourke made no attempts to hide the connection. The book is dedicated to the Phillies, and O'Rourke thanks many of the Phillies by name in the introduction. Name in bold pencil on front fly leaf, otherwise clean