A Knickerbocker Photo Mystery
From SABR member Peter J. Nash at Hauls of Shame on October 17, 2011:
The SABR Pictorial History Committee just published a fascinating case study regarding the c.1846 daguerreotype, which allegedly depicts Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. and some of his Knickerbocker teammates. SABR members Mark Fimoff and Corey R. Shanus present dueling experts to support their conflicting claims; Shanus believes the image features Cartwright, Fimoff doesn’t.
The half-plate image was identified by historians as featuring Cartwright and the Knicks when reproduced everywhere from Ken Burns’ PBS documentary, BASEBALL, to a Smithsonian coffee table book.
Corey R. Shanus owns the daguerreotype and states in his defense of the item that he conducted extensive due diligence at the time he acquired it. However, it appears that Shanus failed to reveal (or locate) the daguerreotype’s hallmark. which would likely indicate the photographer and the date of production. If the image were produced before Cartwright embarked upon his trip west, in March of 1849, it would support his argument.
Read the full article here: http://haulsofshame.com/blog/?p=9411
Download the Pictorial History Committee’s newsletter supplement here
Originally published: October 17, 2011. Last Updated: October 17, 2011.