Special signed limited-edition presentation hardcover first edition of Babe Ruth's Own Book of Baseball by George Herman Ruth (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1928, 301 pages), signed by Ruth on the limitation page. Complete with its rare, original dust jacket. Ruth's signature has been scripted in black fountain pen and rates a solid "9" if not better.
This is an extraordinary Ruth-signed rarity. This book is one of only 1,000 presentation copies specially signed by Ruth and is hand numbered "449" in pencil on the limitation page. Despite the apparent fact that 1,000 special signed copies were originally distributed, there have been only a handful of examples to surface in the past several decades, suggesting that maybe fewer were actually signed.
Very few baseball books of significance fall into that most desirable signed-book category. Most signed presentation books are those of former presidents or other historically important authors as opposed to baseball players. But one thing all specially signed presentation copies offer, and part of what makes them special, is that they have an inherent unquestionable authenticity. In a world where forgeries are a serious problem, there is a special comfort in knowing that a volume is one of a very limited number of presentation copies, and that each and every one was definitely personally signed, and with great pride, as a special presentation gift by the author, in this case Babe Ruth.
The book is affected by moderate-to-heavy water damage along the top portion of the volume, which affects both covers and nearly every page to varying degrees (the front cover and early pages are most heavily affected). Aside from the water damage, the book is in Excellent condition overall. The dust jacket is similarly affected by the water damage and is also affected by numerous tears (paper loss) throughout, including tape repair on the interior. The dust jacket is in Fair condition overall. Despite the condition flaws, this is a very significant and extremely rare Ruth-signed book dating from the height of his great fame and career.
Accompanied by a full Letter of Authenticity from PSA/DNA.