August 2021 Sports Card & Memorabilia Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/15/2021
This amazing c. 1940s Babe Ruth restrike Type II photograph was printed by the Sporting News featuring this iconic image of Ruth taken by Conlon in 1927. This well known photograph was used for several Babe Ruth baseball cards, including Babe's 1933 full body Goudey card. The photograph measures 7.5"x9.5" and has the Sporting News stamp on the back, and has some surface cracking on the front of the photo. Conlon is regarded as one of the top baseball photographers of all-time, and this Babe Ruth photograph is one of his most famous photos from his decades of capturing baseball history. Conlon used a Graflex View camera and large format glass plate negatives before switching to film, in all he created at least 30,000 images over his career that spanned from approximately 1904 to 1941. Most of his archive consisted of thousands of portraits of major league baseball players, including the famous action shot of Ty Cobb sliding into third base at Hilltop Park in 1910, upending the fielder, Jimmy Austin. After his death in 1945, Conlon's famous archive of 8,300 negatives, less than one third of the total number of images he created, was acquired by The Sporting News. Type I and Type II photographs capturing legendary poses of baseball history continue to gain appreciation by sports collectors, as they tend to be more rare than baseball cards. This photo has been reviewed and authenticated by the photograph experts at PSA/DNA - it comes nicely encapsulated and with a letter of authenticity from PSA/DNA.
Condition: GD
Original c. 1940s Babe Ruth Type II Photograph (From the Sporting News) Off Original Charles Conlon Glass Negative (PSA/DNA Slabbed)
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