SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, New York, June 26, 1909  

* Cork Centered baseball patent 
* End of the "Dead-Ball" era 

The front page has two graphics relating the huge size of the "Zeppelin II" with a related article inside. Another page has 5 photos of: "The Latest French & German Aeroplanes and Airships" with a related article.
Under the lengthy: "Index of Inventions" near the back is an inconspicuous entry for a patent issued for: "Base ball. B.F. Shibe...#924696" which was for the first cork-centered baseball, issued to Ben Shibe. A notable item in the evolution of baseball equipment. Its World Series debut occurred in 1910.
Complete in 20 pages, some damage to the back leaf, various older mends at several margins, a bit irregular at the spine from disbinding, a library stamp at the top.

Background: Issued on June 15, 1909, U.S. Patent No. 924,696 for Benjamin Franklin Shibe's cork-centered baseball fundamentally altered the trajectory of American sports by providing the technological catalyst that ended baseball's stagnant "Dead-Ball Era." Prior to this publication, baseballs featured a solid rubber core that quickly softened, flattened, and lost its resiliency under heavy impact, favoring pitchers and rendering home runs an anomaly. Shibe's patented design introduced a rigid, lightweight cork core wrapped in vulcanized rubber and tightly wound yarn, an structural innovation intended purely to prevent the ball from deforming during play. However, when officially adopted by the Major Leagues for the 1911 season, the ball's superior rigidity and elasticity caused it to jump off bats with unprecedented velocity, triggering a massive, immediate surge in league-wide batting averages and home runs. This publication represents the definitive turning point from a low-scoring, small-ball strategy to the high-powered, offensive spectacle of the modern game, cementing a structural blueprint for baseball construction that remains the industry standard over a century later.