Q: "Earliest written reference to baseball"

[Dave Wilton]

The 1744 date is assumed. That's the first edition of John Newberry's "A
Pretty Little Pocket Book." The word "Base-ball" appears in the tenth
edition from 1760, but no earlier editions survive, so no one knows for sure
if the word appears at the earlier date. Newberry's book is English. The
Pittsfield citation is the earliest extant American use of the term, and I
believe it is from 1791, not 1789; the Times rounded the number to 215.

There is also a 1796 German book that lays out the rules of "englische
Base-ball" at that time. That's the earliest known recording of the rules of
the game that I'm aware of.

These early references are probably to a forerunner of the modern game. From
the picture accompanying the 1760 citation, it appears the game was played
with a ball and bases, but no bat, with the players striking the ball with
their hands.



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Joel S. Berson
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 9:41 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Q: "Earliest written reference to baseball"

Thanks.  I had wondered if it was the Pittsfield instance.  But if it
has no evidence that the game's the same, shouldn't someone tell the
NYTimes about 1744?  (Presumably unrelated to the 1850s game as well.)

Joel

At 3/15/2011 08:14 PM, Sam Clements wrote:
>This one came to light in 2004.
>An ordinance in Pittsfield, MA.  Prohibiting playing games which used
>balls(base ball, cricket, etc.)  near the Meeting House. Never was any hint
>it was the same game of baseball that we know from the 1850s or so.
>
>Sam Clements
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 19:34
>Subject: Q: "Earliest written reference to baseball"
>
>
>> From the New York Times, Sunday March 13, "Debate Over Baseball's
>>Origins Spills into Another Century" (p 9, New England Edition).  Also at
>>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/sports/baseball/13thorn.html?scp=1&sq=db
ate%20baseball%27s%20origins&st=cse
>>
>>Caption on photograph says:  "The baseball historian John Thorn,
>>[right] center, in 2004 presenting a 215-year-old document that is
>>the earliest written reference to baseball."
>>
>>I plead too much on baseball in the ADS archives to search.  Do we
>>all know what this document from 1789 is, and does it use the word
>>"baseball"?  The OED of 1989 has the Austen a1817 quotation as its
>>earliest. A quick look into the archives says there is an instance,
>>with picture, from 1744.
>>
>>Joel
>>
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