Original carte de visite (CDV) capturing outfielder Lipman Pike, the first home run champion of the National Association. Produced by the famed Bachrach photography studio of Baltimore. We have never seen another example of this CDV of Pike, a player for whom very few original portrait photos exist, and it may be unique. Lipman Pike was a member of the Baltimore Canaries of the National Association in both 1872 and 1873 and given that the CDV was produced by the Bachrach studio, it is reasonable to assume that it dates from that two-year time period. This CDV image was also used to create the woodcut illustration of Pike that was part of a Baltimore Canaries team composite featured in the May 5, 1873, issue of the Daily Graphic, a New York City newspaper.

Lipman Pike was the game's first great Jewish ballplayer and one of the top sluggers of his era. He also helped give rise to professionalism in organized baseball. In 1866, as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics, Pike was one of the first players to be paid when he and two other teammates received a weekly salary of $20. Pike led the National Association, baseball's first professional league, in home runs during each of its first three years (1871-1873). After the demise of the National Association in 1875, Pike joined the National League, where he played six additional seasons and led the league in home runs in 1877. He finished his career with a .322 batting average in ten seasons of professional baseball.

This CDV originates from an extraordinary unprecedented find of early baseball photographs recently discovered in a nineteenth-century photo album, all of which are offered in this auction. Included in the album were team-composite CDVs for seven of the nine founding members of the 1871 National Association, baseball's first professional league, plus individual portrait images of many of the game's earliest stars. Original baseball photos dating from the 1870s are exceedingly rare and for many of the players represented in this collection their offered CDV is not only the first such example we have handled, but in many cases, the only one we have ever seen. 

All the CDVs in the collection have been slightly trimmed by the original owner so that they could fit properly within the predesigned album sleeves (a common practice at the time). However, for most, the trim affects the mount only and the photos remain in outstanding condition overall. While the history of the album is unknown (our consignor purchased it from an antique dealer), since nearly all the photos found in the album are of ball clubs or ballplayers from the early 1870s, it most likely belonged to a former player or perhaps a National Association team executive.  

A "Bachrach" credit stamp appears on the reverse. The Bachrach studio, which is still in existence today, was founded by David Bachrach in 1868 and quickly became one of the premier photography studios in the country. Known for its portraits of famous individuals, a Bachrach family member has photographed every United States President from Abraham Lincoln to George H. W. Bush. In 1881 the studio changed its name to Bachrach Bros., therefore the offered CDV dates prior to that name change. As previously noted, the CDV (2.5x4 inches) has been slightly trimmed to its current dimensions. Encapsulated and certified "Authentic" by SGC.