Between October of 1888 and April of 1889, Albert Spalding led a group of ballplayers consisting of the Chicago White Stockings and a team of All-Americans on a world tour to promote baseball around the world.  The players traveled to Australia, England, Egypt, France, Ireland and Italy, along with the United States.  Originally conceived as a barnstorming tour of the United States and Australia, Spalding decided that a trip around the world would benefit the game (and his sporting goods company). The two teams played 53 games of four innings or more, with the All-America team winning 28, Chicago winning 22, with three ties.  The first game took place on October 20 in Chicago, and some time before that the players visited the Stevens photo studio of Chicago to take promotional photos for the trip.  This cabinet is an 11-player composite image that includes the members of the Chicago club, including Hall of Famer Cap Anson. Also pictured are Fred Pfeffer, Tom Burns, Ed Williamson, John Tener, Jimmy Ryan, Mark Baldwin, Tom Daly, Marty Sullivan, George Van Haltren and Bob Pettit.  Each player is identified with their names printed under their image, with text reading "Spaulding's Austrailian Tour/Chicago Club/1888-1889" underneath the entire composite.  Text printed on the mount itself reads "Spaldings Austrailian Base Ball Tour/Stevens 1888-1889 Chicago"

The cabinet has been graded PR 1 by SGC, with overall age-related wear.  The most noticeable flaw is a large chip on the bottom-right corner of the mount, seconded by a large spot of foxing or staining at the upper left.  Soiling and staining is evident throughout, though the image itself is clear with no fading. An ornate ad for the studio appears on the reverse, which also includes some handwritten notations including one that reads "T. Hedge Bought at Cedar Rapids/Oct 23, 88." Extremely rare, this is the only graded example of this card that we have found in our research.  A truly amazing rarity.