Labatt Park - Bryce's 1876 and 1877 Baseball Guides

Bryce's 1876 and 1877 Baseball Guides

This is the world's oldest baseball grounds still in existence.

A treasure-trove of information about early Canadian/Ontario "base ball" surfaced in 2002 when Library and Archives Canada purchased (for $10,000 from an Ottawa, Ontario, bookseller) Bryce's Base Ball Guide 1876 and Bryce's Base Ball Guide 1877, two hand-coloured, 75-page booklets published by William Bryce of London, Ontario, which originally sold for a dime.

The two, four-inch (102 mm) by seven-inch guides are considered to be the first significant publications on Canadian baseball.

Bryce, a Scottish-born bookseller, news agent and sporting goods distributor in London, had a small stake in the Tecumsehs, considered by many to be the finest ball team in the entire Dominion of Canada.

During U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the Library and Archives Canada building on November 30, 2004, he showed a special interest in these two early Canadian base ball books which were laid out for his perusal. See here

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