Block:"Base-Ball" Mentioned in 1755 Novel
English Baseball |
Add a Block Game |
Data | Reference to a game of "Base-Ball" in the satirical novel The Card, written by John Kidgell, a clergyman, but published anonymously: "…the younger Part of the Family…retired to an interrupted Party at Base-Ball, (an infant Game, which as it advances in its Teens, improves into Fives, and in its State of Manhood, is called Tennis.)" |
---|---|
Sources | The Card, John Newbery, London, 1755, p. 9 (There was also a Dublin, Ireland, reprint edition published in 1755.) |
Block Notes | The book has a publication date of 1755, but a newspaper account indicates it was already in production by Christmas, 1754. It was reviewed in a literary journal in February, 1755. All this is to say that it predated the baseball entry in the Bray diary by a few months. Given the highly satirical nature of The Card, it is hard to know whether to take Kidgell's characterization of baseball literally. |
Comment | Edit with form to add a comment |
Query | Edit with form to add a query |