Babe Ruth was coming off of his greatest season in 1927 when he signed this photo early in 1928. He had just clubbed 60 home runs (a record that would stand for 33 years) and batted an astonishing .356 with 165 RBI, leading the iconic "Murderer's Row" lineup to a World Series triump as well.
Following the 1927 campaign, Ruth spent his offseason out of the limelight of New York City, opting to experience the great outdoors instead. As this chapter of the larger-than-life figure goes, Ruth often embarked to North Carolina where he found a friend in William B. Blades, Jr. (son of business magnet William Blades Sr.) and bonded with Blades over their mutual passion for hunting. The Bambino and Blades would go out in search of ducks and deer on Blades' massive boat fittingly named "The Decoy".
To commemorate their friendship, Babe had this extradordinary 11.75" x 16.5" photograph developed for Blades and beautifully inscribed it as follows: "To My Pal W. B. Blades, Thanking you for the wonderful time on 'The Decoy', Wishing our friendship lasts forever, From your friend, Babe Ruth, Jan 15, 1928."
It should be noted that while large format photographs may be commonplace now, it was a custom order project in the 1920s, which would have required special ordering by Ruth from a lab equipped to develop photographs of oversized dimensions. Hence, Ruth photographs of this size are extraordinarily scarce and were only issued to close friends and associates at his request.
The photograph has been bonded to a photographer's mat of equal size (likely done at the time it was developed to keep it from getting damaged). Despite being nearly a century old, it remains in very good shape with just minor handling and wear along the edges. Ruth's black fountain pen signature and inscription on the lower right maintains a desirable dark hue even to this day.
A testament to its desirability, this photograph was originally part of the historic Barry Halper collection, and comes with a letter of provenance from the buyer who originally acquired it from Sotheby's historic Halper sale in the late 1990s. From the prime date of the image and autograph, to the extraordinary size and superb provenance, you will be hard-pressed to find a more impressive Ruth signed photograph. Includes full LOAs from JSA and Beckett.