Original Signed Letter by Basketball HOF George T. Hepbron with Envelope, October 28th, 1892

This letter was initially written in 1892, but Hepbron sent it later to his wife in 1902, in order to impress her with his correspondence to a colleague those 10 years earlier. The envelope is labeled from the Amateur Athletic Union Basketball Committee letterhead and the letter is signed by George Hepbron on the reverse. His signature is very rare to find, I have only seen one other example from a Heritage auction in 2015 (Lot #83060) on a 1921 Basketball Committee Certificate. George T. Hepbron was a close friend of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, and played a major role in the early development of the game, especially in the area of rules. He held leadership roles with the Amateur Athletic Union Basketball Committee and the National Basketball Rules Committee. Hebron wrote the very first book on the game, How to play Basketball, in 1904 and conducted the first national rules seminar. He was also the editor and rules interpreter of the early Spalding’s basketball guides for men and women. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of fame in 1960 as a referee.