WALKER, George.

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A New Treatise on Chess: First edition of this scarce chess handbook by perhaps the great chess popularizer of his age. George Walker was a tireless chess writer who gained a wide readership through both his books and columns. He also founded England's first chess magazine, The Philidorian (1837-38), as well as multiple chess clubs in London.For A New Treatise on Chess, Walker (1803-1879), "with his practical experience as a bookseller... planned a cheaper work on the game that would, as he thought, stimulate the zeal of chess-players and induce them to study the openings, and, possibly in the end, lead them to buy the more expensive works of his master, [William] Lewis". A greater advocate than a player, Walker "created a wider enthusiasm for chess than Lewis ever succeeded in raising" (Murray, pp. 189-91). The work went through multiple editions, including in German translation.

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