Chess Collectors books

[r.van.der.veur]

In the last 6 years I have build a small reference library. For me are reference books a smart investment. The money you spend for a book can more than make up for loosing money by mistakenly buying\selling chessmen at a wrong price, just because you aren’t knowledgeable. Here is the list of my chess collector books not included my auction catalogs: Title: Master Pieces Author: Gareth Williams ISBN: 0-670-89381-1 Title: Chessmen Author: A.E.J. Mackett-Beeson ISBN: 0 7064 0050 X Title: Book of Chessmen Author: Alex Hammond Publisher: Morrison and Gibb limited, London and Edinburgh Title: The world of Chess Author: Anthony Saidy and Norman Lessing ISBN: 0-394-48777-X Title: Collectors’ Blue Books Chess Sets Author: F. Lanier Graham Publisher: Walker and Company, New York Title: Schach (Original title The art of chess) Author: Colleen Schafroth ISBN: 3-89660-125-3 Title: Chessmen Author: Frank Greygoose ISBN: 0668047666 Title: Cultures, Chess and Art: A Collector's Odyssey across Seven Continents: Sub-Saharan Africa, Vol. 1 Author: Edwin S Munger ISBN: 0964404664 Title: Cultures, Chess & Art: Volume 2: The Americas Author: Edwin S Munger ISBN: 0964404672 What books do you have?

[computojon]

These are very good books, but in my opinion the book that has been most helpful to me is Chessmen for Collectors Victor Keats

[r.van.der.veur]

"Chessmen for Collectors" by Victor Keats is still on my wish list but it's also a very expensive book around €250,-.

[chesspurr]

as the internet has shown us all ,the sheer quantity of sets out there is immense. i have a collection of books , but its frustrating that much of the information that i wish for is not easily available. i have yet to see a detailed book on 19th century , wooden sets from britain and europe. the books above only have a limited amount of information on dublins , uprights , british chess company sets. the same for austrian ,german etc. as a plastics collector there is almost nothing at all in all of my books. i would strongly recommend a book by mike darwell called ......... turned chessmen. mike has studied antique chess men in great detail ,and his book has a good selection of photos to study. this books gives collectors information on how sets are made , how to spot composite sets by viewing the pieces as the author suggests. he has produced replica sets , and takes you through the whole process in great detail. for the collector who wishes to learn about how sets are made , it is an essential book to have in ones refrence library. it is not an expensive book ,and well worth the price i paid for it.

[chess-queen]

Your choices excellent. There are a few others, inexpensive, but great for the "knowledge" to be gained: Enchanted Chessmen: A World of Fantasy These are the sets in the Cleveland Museum Chess Past Present and Future...the Met Museum New York Chess A Celebration of 2,000 Years Best Sites: Alibris, Bookfinder, AbeBooks And watch Ebay for the Wichmann book...The World of Chess. Also check some of the websites of dealers...a wealth of knowledge on the sets...Garrick Coleman London Here in US..Frank Camaratta, Jr..WORLD authority on Staunton & Jaques. Knowledge...a Villeroy boche...in a book $70 in a flea market : ) My clients call it The "Treassure Hunt" Enjoy! Elizabeth

[chess-queen]

Ooops forgot The Imagery of Chess now on Ebay Auction #130035994302 Ned Munger wrote a 3rd book, Cultures, Chess & Art, Vol. 3: Pacific Islands & Asia and working on #4 Don't forget the Keene book Raymond Keene, Chess, An Illustrated History That's all folks : ) Elizabeth

[dwolf359]

Hello, Fellow Chess Collectors! On the subject of helpful references here are just a few more to round out the pretty much complete list that has been compiled: Title: Chessmen Author: Donald M. Liddell with Gustavus A. Pfeiffer and Jean Maunoury Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York 1937 Publisher: White Lion Publishers, London 1976 (reprint) Title: The Art of Chess Pieces Author: Dr. Isaac Linder Publisher: HGS Publishers, Moscow 1994 Title: A History of Chess Author: Jerzy Gizycki Publisher: The Abbey Library, London 1972 ISBN: 07196-0086-3 originally published in Poland in 1960 Title: Chess - The Story of Chesspieces from Antiquity to Modern Times Authors: Hans & Siegfried Wichmann Publisher: Crown Publishers, New York 1964 originally published in West Germany in 1960 The last is the Wichmann book mentioned by Elizabeth. I agree with computojon that the Keats book is perhaps the best "one-volume" reference for chess sets. The triology by Munger dovetails quite nicely with Keats as it covers many sets that are only lightly mentioned or absent completely in the latter. Hope Dr. Ned will be able to offer us Vol. 4 sometime soon as its been several years since his third installment. Meantime, if you don't have any of the first three, recommend that you beg, borrow or steal them if you must. They belong alongside Chessmen for Collectors in your reference library! Dan

[r.van.der.veur]

Hi Chessspurr, I found this title on Amazon do you already know it? Title: British chess sets: A catalogue of British playing sets 1700-1950 (Unknown Binding) Publisher: s.n.] (1986) Author: Michael Mark Language: English ASIN: B0007BYD82

[lichess]

If you can read German, the very best book out at this time for chess collectors is entitled Schach Partie Durch Zeiten und Welten, which is a 368 page catalogue of the best public exhibit of chess sets and chess art todate, from the Hamburg 2005 meeting of CCI. To obtain a copy I suggest contacting the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, Germany.Even if you can not read German, the pictures are beautiful and plentiful. Floyd Lichess@aol.com

[computojon]

The article "British Chess Sets" by Michael Mark is a very good and important reference for chess collectors. (It's not a book, just a lengthy article.) If you can find a copy, I would suggest getting it.

[worldwide509]

Hello Jon, Thanks for the information about "British Chess Sets" being an article. May I ask in what publication the article appeared? Cordially, Frank

[chesspurr]

HI FLOYD YES I HAVE THAT BABY ITS GOOD BUT WE NEED UPADTED AND A MORE , DETAILED PUBLICATION THESE DAYS. THE INTERNET HAS SHOWN US ONE HECK OF ALOT OF SETS WHICH HAVE US SCRATCHING OUR HEADS RE JUST WHERE THESE BEUATIES CAME FROM. I HAVE THE GREMAN BOOK AND I AGREE WONDERFUL PHOTOS BUT I NEED TO LEARN GERMAN !!!!!!!! KIND REGARDS GUY

[disphania]

Hi, I have the following books, The Art of Chess, Colleen Schafroth-The Art of Chess Pieces, Isaac Linder-A History (Chess), Harry Golombek-Chess A celebration of 2,000 years, Finkenzeller, Ziehr, Buhrer-Chess, an illustrated History, Raymone Keene,Chess The story of Chesspieces from Antiquity to modern times, Hans & Siegfried Wichmann-Chessmen, Frank Greygoose-Chessmen, D.M. Liddell-Chessmen, A.E.J. Mackett-Beeson-Chess Sets Collectors Blue Books, F. Lanier Graham-The Encyclopedia of Collectibles, Time Life-A History of Chess, H.J.R. Murray-A History of Chess, Jerzy Gizycki-Master Pieces "The story of Chess", Gareth Williams-The World of Chess, Anthony Saidy & Norman Lessing. I included the Murray book even though it is not about the pieces in design.

[computojon]

I think "British Chess Sets" is a more-or-less stand-alone article. At least it's article length.

[jvreij]

Hi all there For some years I'm collecting book titles on the subject of chess pieces and history. My list is over 200 entries long, but includes catalogs and "doubles" as well. With "doubles" I mean books that are published in different languages, or different countries (e.g. USA versus UK), or different edition. Some are only sidely related to chessmen.