Rare and historically significant Brooklyn Atlantics scorebook/scrapbook dating from the 1860’s season. Any original records of nineteenth-century baseball are extremely rare and the fact that the offered volume contains a vast archive of both original first-hand written game scoresheets and period printed news clippings pertaining to the Brooklyn Atlantics considered by many to be the best team in New York (and therefore the best team in the world) in the 1860’s makes it all the more significant.

The Brooklyn Atlantics were founded in 1855 and just four years later won recognition as one of the top clubs in New York. They were also one of original members of the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1857 which was the first organized sports league in history. The Atlantics' high level of play continued through the following decade during which time they were the unofficial "champions" for a number of years on the strength of a star-studded roster that included Dickey Pearce Charlie Smith Fred Crane Joe Start and Tom Pratt. In 1870 the Brooklyn Atlantics made history when they defeated the legendary Cincinnati Red Stockings (baseball's first all-professional team) thereby dealing Cincinnati its first loss in 130 games (spanning nearly two years).

This 8” by 7” by 1-12” hardbound journal contains 18 handwritten game scoresheets spanning from 1863-1867. The following games are included;

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Philadelphia Athletics - June 18 1863 at Bedford L.I.

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Philadelphia Athletics - August 1864 at Philadelphia

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Philadelphia Athletics - October 30 1865 at Philadelphia

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Philadelphia Athletics – November 6 1865 at Brooklyn

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Philadelphia Athletics - October 1 1866 at Philadelphia

Brooklyn Atlantics v. New York Mutuals  - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Philadelphia Athletics - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Newark Eurekas – October 25 1866 (date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. New Brunswick Stars - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Philadelphia Keystones - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Brooklyn Eckfords - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. New York Mutuals  - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Jamaica - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Peconic  - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Peconic  - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Irvington  - “Grand Match” (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Harvard  - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

Brooklyn Atlantics v. Newark Eurekas - 1866 (exact date and location unrecorded)

These game records are beautifully recorded in classic Spenserian script. The fact that book includes both home and road games suggests that the keeper of the book was affiliated with the Brooklyn Atlantics team in some capacity perhaps a team appointed record keeper or a relative of a player or team official. Surrounding the score sheets in the volume are dozens of pages pasted with printed clippings such as box scores game summaries and editorial articles. These clippings are an astonishing assemblage of information chronicling the period’s most important happenings in the game of baseball at a vital period of the game’s evolution and burgeoning popularity.  

As previously mentioned original mid-nineteenth-century baseball records extremely rare and much of the limited material that exists in the hobby today represents either unknown or far less-prominent clubs. The fact that this journal originates from the Brooklyn Atlantics the most celebrated team of the era makes it a critically important nineteenth-century baseball artifact that would be a centerpiece in any advanced nineteenth-century baseball collection. The journal/scorebook has lost its spine and some of the pages have loosened however the pages remain mostly secure and in order. While the covers have endured some wear over the last 150 years-plus they have done well to protect the interior pages. This is a museum quality baseball artifact that transports its observer to the pastoral origins of America’s National Pastime.