Baseball collectors are most familiar with the Burr McIntosh Monthly through the October 1903 issue featuring a portrait of Hall of Famer Iron Joe McGinnity as well as a team shot of the 1903 New York Giants. I did a write up and accompanying video on Burr McIntosh Monthly on my magazine collecting site, be sure to check it out for more detailed information about both the man and the magazine.
Targeted at the upper class, there actually weren’t a whole lot of sports figures covered inside the Burr McIntosh Monthly. Iron Joe is the exception, not the rule. The most common subject inside were theater stars of the period–that specific period being 1903-1910 when the Burr McIntosh Monthly was published. The July 1905 issue did return to sports as a subject, but they didn’t depict the rough and tumble world of pro baseball this time around, instead choosing some shots from Ivy League schools.
I’m going to list these all at auction on eBay in the next day or two (the listings should appear at the bottom of this post once live), but for now, let’s show them off inside the VintageMeld, enjoy:
Harvard Varsity Crew on the Charles River, Cambridge
Start of Schoolboy Race, University of Pennsylvania Relay
University of Pennsylvania Baseball Squad, 1905
Battle of the Bowl, University of Pennsylvania, 1905
This next one not directly related to the Ivy League sports above, but pretty neat and also inside the July 1905 issue:
Section of the Annual Automobile Parade at New York, 1905
Finally, the man himself, Burr McIntosh was pictured inside a few issues of the magazine bearing his name in the title. A multifaceted man as the page linked above details, besides being publisher, McIntosh was a stage (and later film) actor. There are even photos inside some issues credited to him, as McIntosh was also a professional photographer. A very interesting fellow, here he is as Taffy in the stage version of Trilby:
Burr McIntosh as Taffy in Trilby
I’m pretty sure that the whiskers were part of the act. By the way if Trilby is familiar, but you just can’t place it, the play is based on the classic gothic novel by George du Maurier and you’re very likely familiar with it’s most famous character, Svengali.
The pages/prints come from an issue that had a couple of loose leafs removed from it, thus I’ll be offering the prints for sale individually. Look for them on eBay.
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