Gustines: Charles Conlon photo archive going up for auction Saturday
From George Gene Gustines at the New York Times on August 24, 2016:
The archive of Charles M. Conlon, a photographer who captured some of the giants of baseball’s golden years, will be auctioned Saturday. The negatives preserve a multitude of iconic images — including one from 1910 that shows Ty Cobb sliding into third base in a cloud of flying dirt — and are expected to sell for more than $1 million.
Flipping through the 7,462 negatives that make up the Heritage Auctions sale is like discovering a long-lost time capsule. Among the game-day scenes of pitches and batting stances are scores of close-ups and portraits of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Shoeless Joe Jackson and many others. The sale also includes the glass plate negative of New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson that is said to be Conlon’s first portrait.
The negatives span from 1904 through 1942, when Conlon, who died in 1945, was shooting for The New York Evening Telegram and Spalding’s baseball guides. Many of the portraits also appeared in The Sporting News, in advertisements and in a series of baseball cards, which add to their familiarity.
Read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/sports/baseball/archive-of-charles-m-conlons-historic-baseball-photos-on-auction.html
Originally published: August 24, 2016. Last Updated: August 24, 2016.