3847. -- HISTORY OF CHESS - Some Recommended Books: ***** THIS SECTION UPDATED 28 OCT 2023 *****
RETURN TO HOME PAGE Tony Peterson, 15 Harbour View Park, Rope Walk, Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN17 5DQ, UK. Tel: 01903 730371. email: tony@chessbooks.co.uk £0.001876. Davidson (H.A.): A Short History of Chess.
Greenberg, NY 1949. 1st Edn. Small stain to edge of a few pages o/w G. 228pp., 4 plates. The author states that he knows of no other history of chess being published in the U.S. before this one. £18.00194. Eales (R.): Chess. The History of a Game.
Batsford 1985. 1st Edn. VG,d/w. 240pp. A seriously researched, but also readable, history. With small bookplate of ECF, Pollard Collection. £15.002950. Forbes (Duncan): The History of Chess, from the Time of the Early Invention of the Game in India, till the Period of its Establishment in Western and Central Europe.
Facsimile Reprint of the original 1860 edition, Moravian Chess, Czech Rep.2005. Hardback, purple cloth, VG. Frontispiece, pp viii, 312, lx (appendix), 3 plates at end. LN 211. £25.002466. Gizycki (J.): A History of Chess. (Edited by B.H.Wood).
Abbey Library, 1972. First English Edn. Large hardback, VG,d/w. 375pp., many illustrations, including colour plates. First published in Polish in 1960. For this English edition B.H.Wood has added a new chapter on Anglo-Saxon aspects of the game and thoroughly revised the original text. Includes sections on chess and art, in poetry & prose, mathematics, famous people who played chess etc..This 1972 edition is much superior to the 1977 reprint, the paper being of better, whiter quality, and the coloured plates being mounted. The d/w is also different. With a bookplate of the ECF, Golombek collection. £28.004214. Gizycki (J.): Schach zu Allen Zeiten.
Stauffacher Verlag, Zurich 1967. Large thick hardback, 21 x 27.5cm., VG,d/w (small tear top of spine), with card slipcase. 391pp., many illustrations, including colour plates. First published in Polish in 1960. This First German edition with new chapter on German chess history. Includes sections on chess and art, in poetry & prose, mathematics, famous people who played chess etc... £20.003989. Griffiths (M.J.): Chess in Wales.
Moravian Chess (2008.) Hardback, VG. 339pp, 68 illustrations, mainly from photos, 32 games, index of Welsh chess players. (A.) A history of Welsh chess up to 1970. Includes sections on Thomas Bowdler and Philidor, Captain Evans, early clubs, details of the associations, championships, congresses, correspondence chess, the clubs, their officials, matches etc.. £25.002685. Hagedorn (R.K.): Benjamin Franklin and Chess in Early America. A Review of the Literature.
University of Philadelphia Press, 1958. 1st Edn. Paper somewhat yellowed as usual o/w VG,d/w (jacket a bit creased). pp92, plates. Details 60 works printed in America from 1802 to 1859, Franklin's "Morals of Chess", with commentary and essay on Franklin. A scarce and useful reference work. £40.0012. Hartston (W.R.): The Kings of Chess. A History of Chess Traced through the Lives of its Greatest Players.
Pavilion, 1985. Large hardback, VG,d/w. 192pp., well illustrated with photos and old historical prints and pictures, a few famous games annotated. (A.) With a bookplate of the ECF collection. £15.004296. Keats (V.): Chess, Jews and History. Vol.1.
Oxford, 1994. Folio (8.5 x 12in., 215 x 300mm) hardbound cloth. VG. Well illustrated from old books, paintings etc., 396pp, 3p index., including history, chess in medieval Spain, de Lucena, Ruy Lopez, Jewish chess literature etc. £55.004913. Klahre (A.C.): Early Chess in America.
The Whitlock Press, NY (1934.) 1st Edn. Original blue printed wrappers, slight corner crease to lower corner of pages o/w G. 20pp. LN 304. A scarce item. £40.002004. Lasa (T.von der): Zur Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels.
Leipzig 1897. (Facsimile Reprint 1976.) VG. pp viii,269. His most important book, still perhaps the clearest account of the game's development in Europe from medieval times. (Oxford Companion.) £30.004944. Monte (P.J.): The Classical Era of Modern Chess,
McFarland, USA 2014. Large hardback. 594pp., text-illustrations, appendices, bibliography, index. A valuable contribution to chess history covering the period from Lucena (1497) to Greco (early 1600's), including chapters on the Lucena MS, Gottingen MS, Damiano, Ruy Lopez, Polerio, Gianutio, Salvio, Carrera and Greco. Includes the rules of the game and their changes, and a major presentation of all opening variations and games as recorded by the classical authors. £55.00977. Muller (R.A.): Der Arzt im Schachspiel. The Physician in the Game of Chess in the Work of Jacobus de Cessolis.
Munchen 1981. 1st Edn. Large format, pictorial hardback, VG. 96pp. Many illustrations, some coloured, from old manuscripts and miniatures. Text in German, English, French and Spanish. £18.00436. Murray (H.J.R.): A Short History of Chess.
Oxford UP 1963. 1st Edn. VG, d/w. 138pp. A new and original brief history of the game up to 1866, brought up to 1962 by B.Goulding Brown and Golombek. £30.002000. Wilson (F.): A Picture History of Chess.
Dover, NY 1981. 1st Edn. Large p/b, small cover creases o/w G. 182pp. 295 illustrations with captions, from the earliest works on chess up to Fischer and Karpov, including many fine photographs. Scarce outside of the USA. £20.00