Block:Jane Austen's Cousin Mentions "base-ball" in 1799 Novel

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Mention of "base-ball" in the novel Battleridge, written by Cassandra Cooke but published anonymously: "I came to bid adieu to my old playmate, Sir Ralph Vesey: how kindly did he part with poor Jack Jephson, as he called me! 'Ah!' says he, 'no more cricket, no more base-ball, they are sending me to Geneva.'"

Sources

Battleridge: an Historical Tale Founded on Facts, (2 vol.), By "A Lady of Quality" (Cassandra Cooke), London, 1799, G. Cawthorn, Vol. I, p. 2

Block Notes

Cassandra Cooke's maiden name was Cassandra Leigh, the same as Jane Austen's mother (they were first cousins). The novel is set in the mid-17th century during the period of the English civil war; it is improbable that dialog from that era would include the word "base-ball," belying the claim in the novel's subtitle that it is "founded on facts."

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