Baseball cards from the collection of Jefferson R. Burdick

12 Oct 2024 — 21 Jan 2025 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, United States

29 October 2024

Issued by American Tobacco Company, Murphy, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, 1909–11. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Issued by American Tobacco Company, Murphy, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, 1909–11. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

An integral part of the Museum’s collection of ephemera, the Burdick collection of baseball cards tells the history of popular printmaking in the United States. In 1947, after having approached A. Hyatt Mayor, the Museum’s curator of prints and photographs, the Syracuse electrician Jefferson R. Burdick (1900–1963) began to donate in large batches his entire collection of more than 30,000 baseball cards—along with another 303,000 trade cards, postcards, and posters—to The Met. The baseball cards collected by Burdick represent the most comprehensive public collection outside of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

This exhibition features over sixty dating from 1887 and 1955, including the rare Honus Wagner card. Collectively, they illustrate the history of baseball from the dead-ball era, at the turn of the nineteenth century, through the golden age and modern era of the sport.

Produced using various types of media—from photography to lithography—the cards feature legends of the game as well as lesser-known players, owners, and teams that have contributed to the history of the game.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in three iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Location

New York, United States

Founded in

1870

Issued by American Tobacco Company, Barry, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, 1909–11. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Goodwin and Company, Jim Devlin, Pitcher, St. Louis Browns, from the series Old Judge Cigarettes, 1888. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Issued by American Tobacco Company, Oldring, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, 1909–11. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Issued by American Tobacco Company, Barry, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, 1909–11. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Goodwin and Company, Jim Devlin, Pitcher, St. Louis Browns, from the series Old Judge Cigarettes, 1888. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Issued by American Tobacco Company, Oldring, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, 1909–11. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Goodwin and Company, Jim Devlin, Pitcher, St. Louis Browns, from the series Old Judge Cigarettes, 1888. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Issued by American Tobacco Company, Oldring, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, 1909–11. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Issued by American Tobacco Company, Barry, Philadelphia, American League, from the White Border series (T206) for the American Tobacco Company, 1909–11. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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