I spent most of the day with old books -- the kind that carry a distinctive old smell and slightly dirty your fingertips after holding them for a while.

I was going through the Hal Lebovtiz Collection, which will be auctioned off, and all proceeds from the sale will go to a foundation in the Lebovitz family name at Lakeland Community College. (The date of the sale, along with other details, will be announced at a later date.) Lebovitz — a former News-Herald and Lorain Morning Journal columnist, and longtime sports editor of The Plain Dealer — was inducted into the writer's wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000. He died in 2005.

But before his books can be auctioned, they need to be organized and cataloged.

I've already spent some time organizing books from the last 50 years, but today I started working with books from two centuries ago.

I'll write more later about what I'm learning with this experience, but for now I'm just going to share some images from today's finds.

An ad in the back of "Spalding's Base Ball Guide and Official League Book for 1896"

A picture of the Cleveland Base Ball Club from "Spalding's Base Ball Guide and Official League Book for 1896"

The Cleveland Baseball Club, 1897, from "The Victor 1897 Baseball Guide"

Advertisements in an American League guide from 1905

Ad for Coca-Cola in "Napoleon Lajoie's Official Base Ball Guide" from 1908

Cover of "Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide" from 1911

Image and text honoring Henry Chadwick, "Father of Base Ball." Chadwick served as an editor for several Spalding's before his death in 1908. This tribute appeared in "Spalding's Official Base Ball Record 1909."

A.G. Spalding himself, photographed in 1879

Photo and text honoring Spalding after his death.

Continued text honoring Spalding after his death.

Graph following the 1933 American League pennant race, from the 1934 "Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide." I think the line follows the place each team was in. (Look at those damn Yankees!)

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl