The 1910 photograph of Ty Cobb sliding into Jimmy Austin at third base taken by famed photographer Charles Conlon is the greatest sports photograph ever taken. It is also a bit of an enigma. While the photo did enjoy a bit of notoriety in its own day, only one vintage original exists in the world. In fact, there are only a handful of prewar examples done off the original negative, and then the unthinkable happened... Charles Conlon broke the original glass plate masterpiece. After this happened (about 1940) a copy negative was made and that would be the source of all the examples printed of this photo from that day on as the original was simply too fragile to handle anymore. This is where our exciting specimen comes in. Developed in the 1930's, this is one of only a handful of examples done off the original negative that exists in the world and it presents well here. Stamped on he back from the Sporting News (where the original Negative was housed) this is a rare image in great shape overall with typical news-room handling. Of all the examples of this photo that exists, this is one of the top specimens in the world as it dates to Conlon's lifetime and was struck from the original negative. While this is an exciting offering, it does carry a modest reserve which is a fraction of its true market value.

Size: 8x10
Designation: Vintage 1
Condition: 3/5
Quality: 5/5
Overall Grade: 8/10