Catalogue for the auction of
Cricket, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanacks,
Football & Sporting Memorabilia

‘The Book of the Counties. A Cricket Anthology by Roger Mann’. 1948-1961. A large loose-leaf philatelic album comprising an ornately hand drawn title page followed by over nine hundred signatures of players from all seventeen first-class counties of the period, almost all in ink, signed to album pages, headed pages, pieces, the odd cigarette card and cutting images, all laid down to the album pages with neatly handwritten player biographies and numerous exquisite original illustrations and humorous cartoons throughout by Devon artist B.M. Carter. Many of the illustrations are titled and depict cricketing scenes including ‘The Young Idea’, ‘Unwelcome Visitor’, ‘Fielding Deep’, ‘Tea Under the Trees’, ‘En Route to the Match’, ‘King Willow’, ‘Waiting for the First Ball’, ‘W.G.’, ‘Rain Stopped Play’, ‘Rural Cricket’ etc. The album is organised by county, including Derbyshire (five pages with 71 signatures) 1949-1960, Essex (four with 69) 1948-1960, Glamorgan (five with 70) 1954-1960, Gloucestershire (three with 45) 1949-1960, Hampshire (four with 65) 1955-1960, Kent (four with 47) 1955-1959, Lancashire (four with 55) 1950-1960, Leicestershire (four with 50) 1955-1959, Middlesex (three with 28) 1952-1956, Northamptonshire (three with 38) 1954-1956, Nottinghamshire (two with 35) 1954 & 1957, Somerset (five with 69) 1948-1959, Surrey (six with 58) 1954-1959, Sussex (three with 38) 1954-1959, Warwickshire (six with 61) 1950-1961, Worcestershire (six with 70) 1949-1958, and Yorkshire (seven with 41) 1956-1960. Some duplication of signatures. One Hampshire page is signed to the verso by Barry Richards. A comprehensive and delightful album personally compiled by Roger Mann. Some pages becoming detached from the binding, otherwise in very good condition.