Simple Three-Person Poker Game - First Edition - Signed - John Nash - Bauman Rare Books

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Simple Three-Person Poker Game

John NASH

Item#: 88045 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Simple Three-Person Poker Game

Simple Three-Person Poker Game

SIGNED BY JOHN NASH: FIRST PRINTING OF “A SIMPLE THREE-PERSON POKER GAME,” 1950

NASH, John. “A Simple Three-Person Poker Game.” IN: Contributions to the Theory of Games, Volume I, pp. 105-116. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1950. Large octavo, original orange paper wrappers. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First edition of the volume containing the first printing of Nash and Shapley’s important game theory analysis of a three-person poker game under fixed conditions, signed on the title page by John Nash.

In this important paper, Nash and Shapley use game theory to consider a three-person, zero-sum game of poker, in which one card is dealt to each player. They discuss a scenario in which the deck contains only high and low cards and the eight possible deals are equally likely. Antes and bets are both fixed size. Players may call, but raises are not permitted. Nash and Shapley’s findings concern the equilibrium points in this scenario. Their conclusion apply beyond mathematics to many aspects of economics, banking, and the stock market. As a graduate student at Princeton, Nash discovered game theory, recently articulated by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. While their theory dealt with two-person zero-sum games, or “pure rivalries,” Nash, early on, explored rivalries with the possibility of mutual gain, where each player acts independently and no outside authority makes sure that players stick to predetermined rules. His idea that any game such as this has one equilibrium point became known as the “Nash equilibrium,” a founding concept in analyzing economic behavior, and the one for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1994. Nash’s devastating struggle with schizophrenia was chronicled Sylvia Nasar’s award-winning biography, A Beautiful Mind, and by the film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2002. This volume also contains Brown and Von Neumann’s “Solutions of Games by Differential Equations” (pp. 73-79). This volume is number 24 in the Annals of Mathematics series.

Minor dampstain to bottom inner corner of text and wrappers, light rubbing and toning to extremities of wrappers. An extremely good signed copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book.
Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.
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Colophon Printed note at the end of a text containing information about the printing of the book.
Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
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