Posthumous publications, part 2

A few more books published after the author's death:

Chess: Theory and Practice, by the late Howard Staunton, edited by Robert B. Wormald, London 1876.  

Wormald, who died in December 1876 aged 42, makes clear in his Preface that he had presented the book for publication almost exactly as it left Staunton's hands, indicating that the work was virtually complete at the time of the author's death. 

Staunton died on 22nd June 1874, aged 63 or 64, while working at his desk, but there are varying accounts of what he was working on. In Howard Staunton; the English World Chess Champion by R. D. Keene and R. N. Coles, St. Leonards on Sea, 1975, page 25 states that "a heart attack took him ..... as he sat in his library chair working on the manuscript of a further chess book, which proved sufficiently advanced with the help of editing by R. B. Wormald, to appear in 1876 as Chess: Theory and Practice"  

However, H. J. R. Murray, on page 518 of an article in the BCM for December 1908, stated that Staunton died while seated at his desk and writing another of the series of papers on Unsuspected Corruptions of Shakespeare's Text which he had been contributing to the Atheaneum.

The fascinating book Notes on the life of Howard Staunton, by John Townsend,  Wokingham 2011, quotes, on page 167, from a letter written by Staunton's wife to her husband's friend James Halliwell: "You will I am sure be very grieved to hear that my poor husband died yesterday quite suddenly. I found him in his chair quite dead with an un-finished letter before him. An hour before when seen he appeared in his usual health." 

The industrious Staunton was probably working on all three.

It is unclear exactly when Staunton wrote Chess: Theory and Practice, but probably over a number of years right up to his death. Townsend's book has many extracts from Staunton's correspondence during the latter years of his life, but there is not a single mention of his final chess work. However, von der Lasa, writing in The City of London Chess Magazine for February 1875, quotes from a letter from Staunton dated 29th November 1873: "I have myself been engaged on a work of the same nature [as Bilguer's Handbuch]... Many sheets of it were in type this time last year, when I was attacked by my old complaint, ... and was compelled to lay it aside."  

Howard Staunton, by D. N. L. Levy, Nottingham 1975, a book which concentrates on Staunton's writings, but without an index or even a contents page, gives, on page 142, the text of a letter from Staunton to Mr. Fraser dated February 17th, 1874, which includes the following: "My Chess work goes on very slowly; though it is nearly all written and a good deal in type. I broke down last year through ill-health. I have never gained the ground then lost."

Chess: Theory and Practice is another extraordinary contribution to chess literature by Staunton.  The first 29 pages are devoted to Some Account of the Origin and History of the Game of Chess. This includes descriptions of the most important chess works from the 15th to the 19th centuries, perhaps written with the assistance of his friend J. Rimington Wilson, to whom this book was dedicated. This is followed by a comprehensive primer,  and an extensive analysis of the openings, over 400 pages, with many illustrative games. Nevertheless, Dr. Tim Harding claimed on page 246 of British Chess Literature to 1914, Jefferson 2018, that the book "made little impact now that Staunton was no longer alive."

The production of this book is all the more meritorious considering Staunton's other literary commitments at the time, his very poor physical and mental state of health, and his nomadic existence during the final years of his life. This is all evident from the many extracts from Staunton's letters in Townsend's book.  

One final matter from Chess: Theory and Practice; pages 22/23 give details of a book by Fra. Antonio das Neves which appeared after his death, in 1647. This is Arte do Liberal Loguo do Axadres, a  manuscript which was never printed, according to van der Linde (Geschichte volume II page 171).

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My Love Affair with Tchigorin, by A. E. Santasiere, Dallas, Texas 1995.

Anthony Santasiere died aged 72 in 1977 leaving some of his manuscripts to Ken Smith who published this book some 18 years later. Smith included the following short note on the last but one page of the book:

Santasiere's passion for chess is evident from his Introduction which is written in his typically romantic style; the word "love" or its derivatives appear 30 times. 

The 100 games are clearly displayed with many diagrams, and are annotated by Santasiere borrowing heavily from previous commentators. 

The short biography of Santasiere, presumably written by Ken Smith, reveals that he was the twelfth of thirteen children of Italian and French parents, had drawn games with Edward Lasker, Marshall and Janowski at Lake Hopatcong in 1923, and was chess champion of Florida in his 60's. Santasiere was also an accomplished poet, musician, artist and novelist.   

While Santasiere was not the most highly respected author, this is a useful addition to the sparse literature on Chigorin in English.

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One of the best known posthumous chess books is A Short History of Chess by H. J. R. Murray, Oxford 1963.
 

Written by Murray 1917, the typescript was found among his papers following his death in 1955. The Clarendon Press at Oxford published this shortly after they had reprinted Murray's 900 page A History of Chess, which was first issued in 1913.  The 138 pages of A Short History of Chess are far more digestible than its predecessor, which expends over 800 of the 900 pages on pre 1500 chess history. 

Murray's typescript took the story of chess from its beginnings up to 1866, and additional chapters were added to A Short History of Chess by B. Goulding Brown covering 1866 to 1945, and by H. Golombek on Modern Times.

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The Modern Two-Move Chess Problem, by Comins Mansfield and Brian Harley, London 1958.

A note on the half title explains that Brian Harley, who died in 1955 aged 71, had designed this book as a primer to introduce beginners to the fascinating charm of the chess problem.

The explanatory Introduction is followed by 24 pages containing 100 problems composed by Comins Mansfield, and 100 pages of solutions with commentary by Brian Harley.

 

A few more another time.

Posthumous publications, part 1.

Plenty of chess books have been published after the death of the author; these include books "in the press" at the time of the demise, part written works, completed and edited after the author's death, and books published from manuscripts left behind, sometimes many years after the author had passed away.

Among these posthumous publications are some classic works including the following selection:

Masters of the Chess Board, by Richard Réti, London 1933.

Richard Réti died in 1929, aged 40, and this book was originally published in Germany in 1930 as part of a two volume set: Das Werk Richard Rétis im Schach, Mährisch-Ostrau, 1930-1931. Volume I is Die Meister des Schachbretts.

The translation into English by M. A. Schwendemann was revised by Julius du Mont who also wrote an introductory note on the author. In this, du Mont referred to Réti's infamous briefcase, stating that "at last he has parted with it, but let us all be grateful that, in it he left his Magnum Opus, Masters of the Chess Board."  

Réti included brief biographical vignettes and characteristic games of some of the leading chess masters from Anderssen to Alekhin with the aim of teaching the historical development and underlying principles of the game.

The British Chess Magazine reviewed both the German and English editions (1930, pages 94-95 and 1933, page 248 respectively), noting that there had been criticisms because no British master was included, but agreeing with Rudolf Spielmann's assessment that this was one of the finest books published on the game.

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My Best Games of Chess, 1931-1954, by S. G. Tartakower, London 1956.

Tartakower published his first collection of Best Games, covering the period from 1905 to 1930, in 1953, and the second volume, covering the years from 1931 to 1954, was published shortly after his death in 1956. 

The French texts were translated and edited by Harry Golombek for both volumes and in his Foreword for the second collection, Golombek talks of his friend Tartakower in the present tense before adding a final sentence: "As this book goes to press I learn with the deepest regret of the sudden death of Dr. Tartakower in Paris on February 5th, 1956". 

Renowned for his dry humour, this is from the final position given in the book:

                           S. G. Tartakower v Dr. M. Falk, Paris, 1954.

Black played Nxh2 and announced: "It's something like mate in two moves or else I win the Queen". Tartakower replied "Yes, it is mate in two", and played:

Qxa7 ch     Kxa7
Ra3 mate.

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One-Hundred-and-one of my Best Games of Chess, by F. D. Yates, London 1934.

A posthumous work arranged and completed by W. Winter and edited by W. H. Watts.  

Fred Dewhirst Yates died in 1932 aged 48 and the obituary in The British Chess Magazine for December 1932, pages 525 to 528, gives a vivid account of the circumstances of his death.  

The book was published by Watts's company Printing Craft Ltd. and, immediately following the obituary, the BCM published a letter from Watts, on page 529, giving details of the planned collection of games, confirming that Yates's part of the book was very nearly finished, and promised to pay a proportion of the proceeds to his relatives. 

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Draw! by W. Heidenfeld, London 1982.

Heidenfeld had written a precursor to this book in 1968 with the title Grosse Remispartien, but Draw! was a new work, omitting some of the games from his 1968 book and with many additional games. 

The manuscript had been completed and Draw! was almost ready for publication when Heidenfeld died in August 1981 aged 70; John Nunn finalised and edited the work.

The engaging Introduction, written by Heidenfeld in May 1981, gives six preliminary examples of exciting draws before the 64 games in the main part of the book.

First class games, commentary, annotations and editing but I found the horizontal layout of the moves, with minimal distinction between the actual moves played and variations, a little unclear. 

A very rare chess pamphlet

Particulars of a Match at Chess, played in Cambridge, in March 1831, published in Hatfield in 1831.

The British Chess Magazine, Chess Annual 1916, included an essay, on pages 5 to 13, written jointly by Philip W. Sergeant and B. Goulding Brown entitled Early Oxford and Cambridge Chess. Goulding Brown followed this up with a further article: The Critical Period of Cambridge Chess in the September 1917 issue of The British Chess Magazine, on pages 265 to 273, in which he enlarged and corrected the Cambridge portion of the first essay.

Both of these items included a footnote, on the first page of each, giving details of an 8 page pamphlet entitled Particulars of a Match at Chess, played in Cambridge, in March 1831, published in Hatfield in 1831.

Footnote to BCM 1917 page 265

The first mention that I can find of this pamphlet is on page 243 of the bibliographical appendix to George Walker's short lived magazine The Philidorian, which ran from December 1837 to May 1838, and this also appears in the Bibliographical Catalogues in Walker's A New Treatise on Chess, third edition, London 1841, page 278, and fourth edition, with additional title, The Art of Chess-Play, London 1846, page 389. 

The Philidorian page 243, extract

Walker's references to this pamphlet were picked up by subsequent bibliographers and this item appears in Literatur des Schachspiels, by Anton Schmid, Vienna 1847, on page 266:

Schmid, page 266, extract

Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels, by Antonius van der Linde, Berlin 1874, zweiter band, page 74, and  Das Erste Jartausend der Schachlitteratur (850-1880), van der Linde, Berlin 1881.

Geschichte und Literatur des Schachspiels volume II, page 74, extract

This is also recorded at 1831:3 in Chess Texts in the English Language, printed before 1850 by Ken Whyld and Chris Ravilious, but is not in Di Felice's Chess Competitions 1824-1970; An Annotated International Bibliography.

So, plenty of bibliographical references, but finding a copy is another matter. This pamphlet is not recorded in any of the major library catalogues such as those for The Royal Dutch Library, Cleveland Public Library, The British Library, the Cambridge University Library, the Bodleian Library in Oxford, etc. Nor have I found it in any bookseller's or collector's catalogues.

However, at least one copy does exist, or it did in 1932. Goulding Brown returned to this matter in The British Chess Magazine for October 1932 in an article on pages 431 to 435 entitled Early Oxford and Cambridge Chess: A Sequel.

On page 434 he discusses the Particulars of a Match at Chess pamphlet and confirms that he had had no replies to his previous request for information about any copies. Goulding Brown then revealed that a copy had been discovered hidden in a volume from the Rimington Wilson library bound up between William Lewis's two Series of Progressive Lessons on the Game of Chess, published in 1831 and 1832.  

This volume formed part of the Rimington Wilson auction sale held by Sotheby's in 1928 and subsequently appeared in Bernard Quaritch's Catalogue of Rare and Valuable Works...of the Game of Chess issued in 1929. Item 813. 

Quaritch catalogue, 1929, page 49, extract

Goulding Brown purchased this book from Quaritch and devotes several paragraphs of his BCM article to a description of this exceptionally rare leaflet. He describes it as a badly printed octavo of eight pages, containing the full scores of a three game match between two unnamed players, and he points out the historical importance of this being the very first separate publication of the complete account of a chess match between two players, as distinct from a correspondence match between two clubs.

This pamphlet had previously been in the possession of George Walker and had presumably been purchased by Rimington Wilson from the sale of Walker's library in 1874. On the title page Walker had noted the player's names as Mr. Gordon of Trinity College and Mr. Oppenheim, Professor of Languages, and that the match was won by the former.

Goulding Brown then tried to deduce the exact identities of these players before concluding with details of another MS. note by Walker to the effect that both were very weak players.  

The question is: where is this treasure now?

Recommended reading - in 1932

A stimulating series of articles and correspondence was launched with an item in The British Chess Magazine for July 1932 on pages 288/289: Some Reflections on Chess Authorship. This article was signed simply "S", (possibly Philip W. Sergeant) and the author lamented the poor financial rewards for chess writers. "S" wonders what is the most ever made out of a chess book and, while acknowledging that a few authors, such as James Mason and Edward Lasker enjoyed long sales runs of their works, his own experience was that "the game is not worth the candle".

"S" put the blame on the chess reading public for expecting to enjoy the game for next to nothing,  being unwilling to pay for their amusement, and for using the books available in clubs and libraries rather than buying their own copies.  

J. Keeble responded in a letter published in the September issue of BCM on page 402 in which he revealed that the print run of J. H. Blackburne's Games at Chess, London 1899, was 3,001 copies, bringing in £1,500 if all sold at ten shillings, therefore presumably making a profit.

"S" added a footnote to Keeble's letter suggesting that, even on these sales, which were good for a chess-work, the payments to Blackburne and his editor Anderson Graham would only have amounted to between £150 to £225, and concluded that "chess authorship has mainly the reward of virtue".   

The British Chess Magazine for October 1932, followed up with an article: The Chess Student and the Author on pages 436/437, having received a letter from W. F. Streeter of Cleveland, Ohio. 

Mr Streeter hit back, blaming the lack of chess book purchases on the authors for not providing what chess players are looking for, perceiving that chess writers were all too often content to tell the readers "What" without taking the trouble to tell them "Why".  He then requested details of books fulfilling the following criteria:

1. A book on the openings explaining the formations to be played for and the reasons for seeking such formations.

2.  A comprehensive textbook on the end-game.

3. A collection of games with annotations clearly explaining the player's objectives and the reasons for their moves.

The BCM article responded to Mr. Streeter's request by firstly making it clear that students should not expect to be spoon-fed everything, but should be encouraged to study and think for themselves, and then recommending the following English titles:

1. Chess Strategy by Edward Lasker, London 1915; The Modern Chess Instructor by W. Steinitz, London 1889; and Lasker's Manual of Chess, by Emanuel Lasker, London 1932. The latter work includes Lasker's views on education in chess exemplified by the following well known passage on page 337: 

2. The BCM did not know of any complete textbook on solving end-games but recommended A Thousand End-Games, by C. E. C. Tattersall, Leeds 1910, as covering the whole field.

3. The BCM suggested the collected games of Alekhine (by himself), Blackburne, Charousek, Morphy, Pillsbury, and Steinitz, together with various tournament books, without naming any particular titles.  

 




















This article provoked further correspondence and two letters were published on pages 479-480 of the November 1932 magazine. The first was from F. E. Yewell who sympathised with Mr. Streeter's requirements of a chess book, stating that he had put into words the wishes of a considerable number of chess club members. He then makes a number of suggestions himself including two books by Znosko-Borovsky; The Middle Game in Chess and How Not to Play Chess.

The second letter, from C. A. S. Damant, gets straight to the point in stating that The BCM's reply to Mr. Streeter was "astonishing in its omission...... there is one book, and only one, that clarifies every phase of modern chess." The neglected work being My System by Aron Nimzowitsch, which Mr. Damant praises highly.

Of course, none of the above has diminished the appetite of most chess players for openings books enabling them to simply memorise long variations of moves by rote.

                                          ©Michael Clapham 2018