Historical Items Auctions

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ST. LOUIS -- A detailed account of the first basketball game played more than a century ago sold Friday for $71,700 in the first of a two-part auction of historical items belonging to the sport's founder, James Naismith.

"The eight-page manuscript describing the events of the first game in Springfield, Mass., is the most significant basketball document ever to reach the auction block," said Chris Ivy of Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, which is conducting the auction.

Thirty-three items from Naismith's archives sold Friday for $293,972. Nearly 300 more items will be offered in a second auction on Dec. 15.

The detailed account of the first basketball game played in December 1891 was handwritten by Naismith, a former University of Kansas basketball coach.

Written account of first game, other hoops artifacts sold