The Chess-Player's Handbook, Howard Staunton — 1st Edition

by Howard Staunton

€187 · Offered by eBay

First edition

Publication: London, Henry G. Bohn, 1847 Formatting: 8vo, pp. x, 518. Condition Report: Good. The original publisher’s red embossed cloth remains striking, particularly the gilt central chessboard, though the binding exhibits expected wear for a frequently referenced manual of this vintage. The joints are rubbed and beginning to split, most notably along the rear exterior, with the cloth chipping at the darkened spine ends and the corners noticeably bumped. Internally, the text block is relatively tight, though the untrimmed pages show moderate toning and dust-soiling to the edges, alongside minor offsetting from the coloured frontispiece onto the facing flyleaf. A few faint pencil marks and an early ownership stamp on the preliminary leaves are present, but the interior remains broadly clean and highly legible. Catalogue Note: This is the true first edition of Staunton's highly influential work, issued in the publisher's iconic red cloth with a richly gilt-blocked chessboard to the front board and a blind-stamped motif to the rear. While the work was tremendously popular and frequently reprinted by Bohn within "Bohn's Scientific Library", the initial 1847 printing had a remarkably short production run, rendering it decidedly uncommon on the open market compared to its later iterations. The volume is notably illustrated with a striking, tinted frontispiece of a chessboard, followed by numerous in-text diagrams of original and remarkable positions. A neat, early ownership stam

• Publisher: Henry G. Bohn
• Year: 1847
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good

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