Base Ball (1803?)

[James A. Landau]

Jane Austen _Northanger Abbey_

Chapter 1 third paragraph
"it was not very wonderful that Catherine, who had by nature nothing heroic
about her, should prefer cricket, base ball, riding on horseback, and running
about the country at the age of fourteen, to books"

According to the "Advertisement by the Authoress", _Northanger Abbey_ was
"finished" in 1803, although it was not published until after Jane Austen's death
in 1817.  The passage in question could have been written as early as 1794.

Not quite the earliest citation, but interesting.  Note that to Austen, base
ball was apparently on a level with cricket.

     - Jim Landau