After spending the prior four seasons with the Chicago team, Hall of Famer John Clarkson was sold off for the then-amazing sum of $10,000 and played the 1888 season with the Boston Beaneaters. Clarkson is widely regarded as the best pitcher of his generation, winning 53 games in 1885 and TWICE hurling more than 600 innings in a season. In his first year with Boston, Carlson recorded 36 mound victories, while throwing 53 complete games! Interestingly, there apparently were no photos of Clarkson in a Boston uniform, so the photographer used a Chicago uniform and superimposed the name "BOSTON" over the top. This Clarkson example (pitching with right arm forward) was originally sold in a 2004 Lew Lipset auction, and has privately traded hands one time since. The image of the photo is bright and crisp, with very nice registration, several light spots in the upper left, and a very small scratch appears at the top edge. The mount has all the gold lettering intact, and a relatively clean reverse, but has a light wrinkle in the upper left corner. The scarcity of N173s can not be underestimated with examples presented at auction few and far between. To locate an example of a Hall of Famer, and arguably the best pitcher 19th century, is about as good as it gets. Graded by PSA VG-EX 4. Provenance from a February 2004 Lew Lipset Auction and has not been seen till this day.