Search

The 1860 Live Oak Polka sheet music is the earliest, and is without question the most spectacular, of all color baseball sheet music. It is also universally recognized as one of the most spectacular and revered of all nineteenth century baseball display pieces. The cover depicts a baseball game in progress with a patriotic motif of an American flag draped across the top. A player is pictured in the foreground, leaning on a bat in full period uniform. The detail of the game in progress scene is remarkable, with players in uniforms, spectators in formal dress, and tremendous background detail. There are very few baseball related lithographic art pieces dating from the era of the Civil War. This is one of the few, and perhaps the very finest, with unparalleled design and production values. This is a rare piece, equally at home in a museum setting or most advanced collection devoted to Americana, the Civil War, American lithography, or Baseball. Robert Edward Auctions has always reserved Lot #1 for very special pieces. There may be other items in this sale that will sell for more, but no other single item represents all that we value in terms of aesthetics, and the rich early history of the game of baseball, than this most extraordinary example of The Live Oak Polka. We are aware of fewer than five known examples of The Live Oak Polka. This example was once one of the signature nineteenth-century pieces of the Halper Collection. It appeared in the famous 1999 Halper auction as Lot #3. It sold at that time for $25,300, and has been consigned to this sale directly from the purchaser at that landmark sale. An extraordinary example of the most desirable of all baseball sheet music, and one of the premier nineteenth-century baseball display pieces. Published by Endicott & Co. Lithographers of New York. With extremely strong colors, with only some very minor age spotting, an extremely insignificant small tear on bottom border (no paper loss, mentioned strictly for the sake of accuracy) and the minutest remnants along the bottom edge from removal from a bound book of sheet music, as is always the case with sheet music from this era. Interior sheet music pages are complete, intact, and very clean. 10 x 13 inches. In superb Excellent condition. Reserve $10,000. Estimate $20,000/$30,000. SOLD FOR $17,250.00