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Game Faces: Early Baseball Cards from the Library of Congress
A charming gift book showcasing baseball cards from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries alongside photos from the early days of the nation's beloved pastime
Game Faces showcases rare and colorful baseball cards from the Library of Congress's Benjamin K. Edwards Collection, bringing to life an era of American history that saw the game explode in popularity. Marrying gems from the collection's 2,100 baseball cards to images of American life from 1887 to 1914, the book also offers engaging insights into the players and the game, giving readers an intimate view of both baseball's development and American culture at the turn of the twentieth century. The book highlights cards depicting many of the game's first stars--including Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and Christy Mathewson--as well as less widely known figures, shown with extravagant ornamentation and boldly juxtaposed colors that render the cards works of art in their own right. Game Faces is a rich, engrossing history of the baseball card and the ways that it has illustrated and influenced American culture as a whole. It is a must-have for those who love baseball.
Game Faces showcases rare and colorful baseball cards from the Library of Congress's Benjamin K. Edwards Collection, bringing to life an era of American history that saw the game explode in popularity. Marrying gems from the collection's 2,100 baseball cards to images of American life from 1887 to 1914, the book also offers engaging insights into the players and the game, giving readers an intimate view of both baseball's development and American culture at the turn of the twentieth century. The book highlights cards depicting many of the game's first stars--including Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and Christy Mathewson--as well as less widely known figures, shown with extravagant ornamentation and boldly juxtaposed colors that render the cards works of art in their own right. Game Faces is a rich, engrossing history of the baseball card and the ways that it has illustrated and influenced American culture as a whole. It is a must-have for those who love baseball.
168 pages, Hardcover
Published October 23, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 22, 2020
This colorful book highlights the history of the National Pastime from its early days of organization through 1914, Babe Ruth's rookie year. It also shares numerous examples of baseball cards (examples of the collection housed in the Library of Congress). The cards were first issued by tobacco companies. There was a short hiatus in the 1890s, when the tobacco trust was established, and companies no longer felt the need to advertise their product. Among the topics covered in the historical overview of baseball and its progress are racism, immigration, juvenile smoking, and gangster involvement in the game. -- I found the history fascinating and enjoyed looking at the various types of cards produced through the years, some of them quite stunning from an artistic point of view. Highly recommended to fans of the game, especially those "bugs and cranks" who relish the history of what once was called (among other names) "two-old-cat"!
February 26, 2019
A fun visual history of early baseball cards, using photos of cards within the Library of Congress's collection. It's heavy on photos and short essays explaining various aspects of early baseball and early baseball cards. It's that rare book that would be useful either to somebody with no real background knowledge or to those who are familiar with the old-time game and cards. Again, heavy on pictures and about 150 pages long, but still very much enjoyable.
May 14, 2025
Dewey decimal number 796.357 leads you to the collection of baseball books in your favorite public library. Game Faces is certainly worthy of a place on your public library shelves. More than just a history of the per-World War I development baseball cards it is a lively social history of American life from the end of the Civil War to the entry of the USA into World War I.Now your have two good reasons to put it onyour reading list.
December 20, 2018
While it's interesting to see all the older, rare baseball cards, there's a lot of great text in the book too. The author details the different eras in baseball and provides a lot of history into the sport's development and rising popularity. I especially loved the facts and anecdotes shared about key players.
December 30, 2018
Listened to interview on Justin McGuire's Baseball by the Book podcast on 10 Dec 2018
January 25, 2019
This book combined two of my loves: baseball cards and turn of the century American history. I feel like this book was written just for me. I haven’t read a book this fast in a long time!
October 4, 2019
While pictures of the old cards were interesting to look at, the narrative of the book was all over the place. Not exactly a coffee table book but not a book I would keep on my shelf either.
January 19, 2022
3 stars for the lay reader, I suspect, 4 for budding collectors.
December 19, 2025
A fine overview of early base ball cards. Provides interesting context for the economic situation of the country in the time covered. And a must for such a work - it’s largely a picture book!
August 26, 2020
Peter Devereaux’s Game Faces: Early Baseball Cards from the Library of Congress is, in many respects, an excellent and visually compelling work. The reproductions are beautiful, the production quality is high, and the book succeeds in conveying the artistic and cultural importance of early baseball cards. For collectors and historians of the hobby, there is much here to enjoy.
Unfortunately, the book stumbles badly in its treatment of Ty Cobb.
The vignette accompanying Cobb’s card reads less like balanced historical scholarship and more like a modern editorial summary built around the darkest interpretations of Cobb’s personality and legacy. While no serious historian would deny Cobb’s volatility, competitiveness, or involvement in controversy, the text presents disputed allegations and contested interpretations as though they are settled fact.
Most troubling is the presentation of the 1919 Ada Morris accusation. The book states that Cobb “had assaulted a black chambermaid,” without acknowledging that the story itself has been questioned by later researchers and exists within a broader historiographical debate surrounding Cobb’s reputation. Over the past two decades, scholars such as Charles Leerhsen have demonstrated that many of the most sensational Cobb stories originated from dubious or heavily embellished sources, especially the writings of Al Stump, whose credibility has been seriously undermined.
The passage also declares that Cobb left “a trail of belligerence and racism throughout his career,” while omitting important countervailing evidence: Cobb’s public praise of Black players after integration, favorable comments regarding Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson, and testimony from contemporaries that complicates the simplistic “baseball monster” caricature. Likewise, the claim that Cobb was “rarely popular with his teammates” ignores the fact that he was repeatedly selected for leadership roles and respected by many fellow players, even when personally disliked by others.
The issue is not that the book criticizes Cobb. The problem is the lack of nuance and balance. Historians have spent years reassessing the mythology surrounding Ty Cobb, yet this vignette seems rooted in an older, highly one-sided narrative that modern scholarship has increasingly challenged.
Unfortunately, the book stumbles badly in its treatment of Ty Cobb.
The vignette accompanying Cobb’s card reads less like balanced historical scholarship and more like a modern editorial summary built around the darkest interpretations of Cobb’s personality and legacy. While no serious historian would deny Cobb’s volatility, competitiveness, or involvement in controversy, the text presents disputed allegations and contested interpretations as though they are settled fact.
Most troubling is the presentation of the 1919 Ada Morris accusation. The book states that Cobb “had assaulted a black chambermaid,” without acknowledging that the story itself has been questioned by later researchers and exists within a broader historiographical debate surrounding Cobb’s reputation. Over the past two decades, scholars such as Charles Leerhsen have demonstrated that many of the most sensational Cobb stories originated from dubious or heavily embellished sources, especially the writings of Al Stump, whose credibility has been seriously undermined.
The passage also declares that Cobb left “a trail of belligerence and racism throughout his career,” while omitting important countervailing evidence: Cobb’s public praise of Black players after integration, favorable comments regarding Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson, and testimony from contemporaries that complicates the simplistic “baseball monster” caricature. Likewise, the claim that Cobb was “rarely popular with his teammates” ignores the fact that he was repeatedly selected for leadership roles and respected by many fellow players, even when personally disliked by others.
The issue is not that the book criticizes Cobb. The problem is the lack of nuance and balance. Historians have spent years reassessing the mythology surrounding Ty Cobb, yet this vignette seems rooted in an older, highly one-sided narrative that modern scholarship has increasingly challenged.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews