SIGNED BY BASEBALL LEGEND WILLIE MAYS

MAYS, Willie. Say Hey. New York: Simon & Schuster, (1988). Octavo, original half tan cloth, original dust jacket. $400.

First edition of the autobiography of Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays—"an American icon"—boldly signed by him, with 24 pages of photographic illustrations.

To Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays was "the closest you can come to perfection." In Say Hey, co-authored with sportswriter Lou Sahadi, Willie Mays recalls his early years in the Negro Leagues and his stellar career with the Giants. Mays is "an American icon whose athletic brilliance and stylistic bravado contributed to the assimilation of blacks during the turbulent civil rights era, a distinctive figure of ambition, sacrifice and triumph who became a lasting cultural touchstone for a nation in search of heroes" (Hirsch, Willie Mays). With 24 pages of black-and-white photographic illustrations. Tiny gift inscription dated year of publication above May's signature. Trace of small label removal to rear blank. Dust jacket with small numerical notation on the verso.

A fine signed copy.