Lot # 18: 1878 Boston Red Stockings Team Cabinet with George Wright, Harry Wright, and Jim O'Rourke PSA POOR 1

Exceedingly rare team composite cabinet card of the 1878 World Champion Boston Red Stockings. This is the first example of this extraordinary team cabinet card we have ever seen! The composite image is made up of individual studio portraits of 12 uniformed players (two players are pictured twice, each with a portrait image and full-length image) plus manager Harry Wright, who is dressed in formal attire. All of the players are identified in print below their respective images: George Wright, Jim O'Rourke, John Morrill, Andy Leonard, Jack Manning, Harry Schafer, Charles "Pop" Snyder (two images), Ezra Sutton, Jack Burdock, and Tommy Bond (two images). The photographer's name "C. Webster Jeffrey, Artist" appears on the front. What makes this card all the more noteworthy (aside from its great rarity) is that it features both Harry and George Wright. We are not aware of any Boston Red Stockings team cabinet cards dating from 1876, and George Wright left the Red Stockings following the 1878 season to become player/manager of Providence. This card is, therefore, one of only two known Red Stockings National League team cabinets that features both future Hall of Famers! When one mentions the Wright brothers, the first two names that come to mind, for baseball fans at least, are Harry and George. Harry, of course, was the architect of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball's first all-professional team, and his brother George was the club's star shortstop and the best all-around player in the game at the time. In 1871, Harry Wright took most of his Red Stockings players, including brother George, moved to Boston, and joined the newly formed National Association, baseball's first professional league. Harry and George led the Red Stockings to five league championships in six seasons before the National Association folded in 1875. The following year, the Red Stockings became inaugural members of the National League, where once again Wright's club dominated, winning the league championship in both 1877 and 1878. After George left the club following the 1878 season, Harry remained with the club for the next three seasons before taking over as manager of Providence in 1882, where he was once again reunited with his brother George. Although Harry and George are certainly the focal point of the 1878 Red Stockings roster, the club included a number of standout players, including fellow Hall of Famer James O'Rourke, "Honest John" Morrill (who later managed the Boston Beaneaters in the 1890s), Andy Leonard (a member of the 1869 Red Stockings), Tommy Bond (a 40-game winner in 1878), and Ezra Sutton (who played 18 seasons and finished with a lifetime .294 average). In addition to its rarity and historical significance, this card is also noteworthy for its remarkable condition. Each of the player portraits displays exceptional clarity and all of the printed names are clearly legible. Graded POOR 1 by PSA, the card (4.25 x 6.5 inches) has a tack hole at the top edge of the mount, light toning front and back, and moderate corner and edge wear. This is an extremely impressive-looking and exceptionally rare team composite cabinet card of the 1878 Boston Red Stockings, a team for which very few cards of any kind exist.