-Harper’s Weekly, A Journal of Civilization

Published from 1857 to 1916, Harper’s Weekly was a magazine of political and social commentary that extensively covered the Civil War. The magazine was well-known for featuring richly illustrated drawings and political cartoons, particularly those by Thomas Nast. The illustration featured here, which depicts the moment before a players is called out on strikes or walked on balls, is accompanied by an article on the 1888 baseball season. Indicative of the sport’s place in popular culture, the author of the article writes, “Base-Ball enthusiasts, under which designation a considerable proportion of the active male population of the United States may be conceived to rank, aver that never before in the history of the ‘national game,’ so called, has there been such rare promise of a successful season….”

T. de Thulstrup and Frederick Evans
Harper’s Weekly, A Journal of Civilization.
“A Ball or a Strike - Which?” and “The Base-Ball Situation”
New York: Harper's Magazine Co., 1888

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