STUDIES OF CHESS, 1810, INCLUDING PHILIDOR’S LANDMARK ANALYSIS OF THE GAME OF CHESS, IN CONTEMPORARY BINDING

(PHILIDOR, A.S.) (PRATT, Peter). Studies of Chess: containing Caissa, A Poem, by Sir William Jones; a Systematic Introduction to the Game; and the Whole Analysis of Chess by Mr. A.D. Philidor. A New Edition. London: Samuel Bagster, 1810. Two volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter brown calf gilt, black morocco spine labels, marbled boards, endpapers and edges.    $950.

Second edition of this early 19th-century English anthology of chess writings.

London Chess Club member Peter Pratt’s Studies of Chess was first published in 1803: “This work was reissued, with occasional revision, seven times up to 1825. Its chief merit is that it contains the whole of Philidor” (Hooper & Whyld, 318). “A Systematic Introduction to the Game is a new edition of Pratt’s The Theory of Chess (1799)” (Whyld & Ravilious 1803:6). French chess master Philidor, “reputedly the best chessplayer of his time, author of the most influential book on the modern game” (Hooper & Whyld, 303) published his masterwork, L’analyze des échecs, in London in 1749. “Caissa,” Jones’ poetic tribute to the goddess of chess, was written in 1763 and published in 1772; it was “inspired by [Marcus] Vida’s Scacchia Ludus (written in 1513 and published in 1535), the poem that tells about the invention of chess by Mars” (Bill Wall, Off the Wall). This edition was edited by Pratt; the majority of Pratt’s work was published anonymously. Whyld & Ravilious 1810:5 Owner signatures.

Interior fine with occasional scattered light foxing. Minor rubbing to boards and extremities. An extremely good copy of a scarce anthology.