SIGNED BY THE BAMBINO

RUTH, Babe and CONSIDINE, Bob. The Babe Ruth Story. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1948. Octavo, original red cloth, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $19,500.

First edition of Babe Ruth's autobiography, signed by Ruth in blue ink on the half title, with 49 photographic illustrations and in the scarce original dust jacket.

"No baseball player, despite what record books claim, has ever equaled Babe Ruth's awesome performance." He reminds us "of the days when real heroes trod the base paths, heroes who played hard, lived hard and gave us everything they had on and off the field" (New York Times). "Millions of words have been written about Babe Ruth since he first donned a major league uniform in 1914, but this is the first time the Babe himself has told the incredible story of his sensational career." Ruth signatures from 1948 are quite scarce, as he was in very poor health for much of that year and ultimately died on August 16th. "First Edition" stated on copyright page. Smith 18833. Grobani 8-19.

Book fine, original dust jacket with shallow wear to corners and spine ends, mild fading to spine. A near-fine copy, rare in this condition and signed by Ruth.