Olympic Games/ summer, 1896/ Athens/ - Lot 34

Olympic Games/ summer, 1896/ Athens/ Three major pieces about the first Olympic champion in modern history, American student James Brendan Connolly (1868-1957): a) "An Olympic Victor, a study of the modern games", by James Brendan Connolly, illutrated cover, the Athens Parthenon, with six illustrations by André Castaigne (1861-1929). 1908, 186 pages (original edition) b) small handwritten letter from 1906, with fine signature by James B. Connolly (very, very rare); c) "Sea Borne, thirty years Avoyaging" by James B.Connolly, 1944, 246 pages. The first Olympic champion in history (April 6, 1896, in the triple jump, with 13m71) was also a remarkable journalist and writer, author of some twenty novels. Before being awarded the Pulitzer Prize, he had opened the new Olympic prize list, and even improved it by finishing 2nd in the high jump (1m65) and 3rd in the long jump (6m11) (his book tells the story). In 1900, in Paris, he tripled his performance (13m97), finishing 2nd. It should be noted that he was only 1.52 m tall, and that in 1896, at the age of 27, he had to break his student contract at Harvard to go to Athens. In other words, this original collection on an extraordinary athlete (four-time Olympic medallist and Pulitzer Prize winner) is exceptional. From the account of his fabulous initial experience to his consecration, or the springboard sport for a triple jumper, what could be more banal?