Sporting Memorabilia & Equipment

The Book of Sports by Robin Carver is considered the first American publication to describe the sport of baseball.

A timed online sale of sporting memorabilia that closed on August 27 at Graham Budd was topped by a photocard of Cuthbert J Ottaway (1850-78).

Sporting specialist saleroom highlights include wicket-keeping gloves, bat and even a soup tureen

This faded red-brown velvet cap worn by Alfred St George Hamersley (1848-1929) is believed to be the earliest rugby international cap to come to auction.

England cricketer Sir Ian Botham sold a group of memorabilia from his international and club career at auction on July 15.

A group of Victorian rowing memorabilia generated plenty of bidding at Claydon Auctioneers (19.5% buyer’s premium) in Buckinghamshire on June 25-26.

A Tennis Match at Manchester is a very rare print marking one of the first British tennis tournaments.

A chance purchase at auction during lockdown inspired a whole book on a single day of the Tour de France 100 years ago

While the achievement of Manchester City players in winning three titles in consecutive seasons – with a treble – is certainly admirable, spare a thought for Tom Wilson, a footballer of a much earlier era.

Mittens worn by British Everest expedition leader Sir John Hunt in 1953 have been reunited 70 years later following a successful auction bid, it has been revealed.

The Abacus sale on June 28-30 in Melbourne will feature an eclectic mix of material.

Alan Chalmers of The Tennis Bookshop (established in 1988) has been awarded the United States Court Tennis Association’s 2023 George Plimpton Prize for his “fine work as a book dealer”.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

By far the most desirable wares from the Goodwin & Harris ‘Metropolitan Scenery’ series of blue and white transfer printed earthenwares are those featuring cricketers in the grounds of Windsor Great Park.

In one way, Johnny Berry (1926-94) was luckier than many of Manchester United’s Busby Babes: he survived the Munich air disaster on February 6, 1958, that killed many of his teammates.

This jersey dates from between 1886 and 1890, making it not just the oldest Middlesbrough FC shirt but possibly the oldest Football League shirt extant.

With Arsenal still setting the pace at the top of the Premier League as we went to press, several lots offered at Graham Budd’s (24% buyer’s premium) sale on March 7-8 acted as a reminder of the club’s formative days.

Gold has become the standard to aspire to at the Olympics but for the first version of the modern summer Games it was silver.