^Lot 1618 Jim Thorpe

Versatile Native American athlete (1887–1953), widely regarded as the finest all-around athlete of the twentieth century, who won two Olympic gold medals and excelled in football, baseball, and basketball. His Olympic medals were stripped from him for an ostensible violation of the amateur status rule (Thorpe had earlier played minor-league baseball) but were posthumously restored to him in 1983. Vintage glossy 8 x 10 lightweight head-and-shoulders photo of Thorpe with his hands clasped in front of him, signed in blue ballpoint. In very good condition, with missing both lower corner tips, areas of old tape remnants to borders and corners, signature just a shade light, and a few creases. Most of the flaws could be matted out.