Description:

I have been in contact with the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, providing proof that the 1901 Spalding Women's Guide was actually the 2nd women's guide that was produced by the American Sports Publishing Company - not the first. As seen in the image, the 1901 women's guide is #141A. However, the 1899 men's guide references a previous women's guide #106. Here are three supporting items of evidence showing that Spalding produced the first women's guide in 1899 1) In the preface of the 1905 Women's Guide (#260), it explicitly states that "It is 6 years since the first Official Guide of Basket Ball for Women was issued by the American Sports Publishing Company." Since Senda Berenson was the editor, I bet this first sentence in the 1905 guide is accurate. 2) On page 49 from the October 1899 Men's Guide #105, it explicitly mentions in the first sentence that the "rules for basket ball for women are to be published this month." 3) Finally, I was able to locate a 1922 publication list from the New York Public Library and Princeton University. which provides a list of all publications that the wife of A.G. Spalding gave to the library after his death. On page 23, it shows that in 1922, the wife of A.G. Spalding donated an 1899 Spalding Women's Basketball Guide. This proves its existence. The 1901 Spalding Women's Guide in the vintagebasketball.com collection was acquired on 1/18/2015.