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?

[lotje-mangoborst]

Later this year a new book on chess sets is coming up. http://www.chessmen.eu I do not know if it is any good but I know Mathieu Kloprogge to be well informed. GJ

[chesspurr]

gertjanslotboom hi gert i had a quick scan at the info .... i noted the 7 pictures of 20th century sets. as usual .... no bakelite .... incredible ... in every one of my 10 collectors books the info is almost zero ..... i do humbly think the 21st century authors had better take a good look at e bay .... there is a huge hole in chess collecting regarding plastics ... not least the 19th century ones too, yes there were sets made then in plastic.

[gevork6]

All: There is no need to re-invent the wheel.....I think the Keats book is by far the best....I have all the others and they pale in comparison........the Keats book however er is ripe to be updated.....my wish is that the book would be expanded and updated.......that would be great...........I am not sure if there is enough interest to get this done....probably not....too bad!!

[lotje-mangoborst]

Well Guy, there a mission for you: A book totally devoted to synthetic chess sets. Comes to think of it, there is so much knowledge in this group on Jaques Staunton sets. Shouldn’t it lead to a reference book on this subject? GJ

[lotje-mangoborst]

I agree, Keats is the best but it could be better illustrated. If you talk about a set, show it. A expanded and updated edition would be great. GJ

[cpe1991]

I bought the Keats book on recommendations from this thread. It is quite inadequate and disappointing regarding Staunton sets and very superficial. There is, indeed, enough expertise in the group to write a superb monograph on Jaques Staunton sets. However, Frank Camaratta has put down his marker on that venture Alan F

[chesspurr]

gevork6 hi art sorry i cannot agree with you there, as each decade passes older sets become antique ,so new publications are most important . with keats he only published sets he studied i presume ,but the missing sets he ignored are not adresssed , in even later books either. there are many plastics collectors in the us alone , and this area needs to be researched properly. mabye if this group keeps going ... we wont need collectors books anymore ...the picassa links are most informative .... now that is an interesting area for discussion. ]:)

[lotje-mangoborst]

Dear Alan F That is exactly the problems with books on chess sets. They always want to cover the whole range and history. They lack depth research (is that proper English?) on almost every type of set. Keats is no exception. I my view we need more books on particularly type and styles. GJ

[chesspurr]

gertjanslotboom hi gert its perfect english to an irishman at least. its good we agree on the weakness of these research tools. i doubt there is a single book which covers jaques as well as cpe1991 ,robert-stoller , and michael mark have with their efforts in our group. the photos alone are incredible .... where on earth can any publication rival such images. this is a rather important point to note ... as we are just beginning as a collectors group.

[cpe1991]

GJ You are absolutely right. Keats is a coffee table book, nice for general information but that is as far as it goes. In my other area of clocks, there are hundreds of books, but apart from a tiny handful are not worth more than a passing read. The only good ones specialise in a particular era in a particular country, a particular style or on just one maker. They are all packed with carefully explained detailed information and profusely illustrated. I have spent hours with a magnifying studying photos in such books. Alan

[cpe1991]

Guy You are absolutely right as well: books probably have been superseded here. Who needs a glass magnifying glass when you have high resolution photos on a website and can use the magnifying tool to home in. It is going to be tough on authors competing with the web. Though, web authors could sell pay-as-you view licences! Alan F

[chessspy]

Hi, All, I'm afraid that Keats would have written a better book if he had taken notice of the comments of the two top researchers he asked to proof read it. However he decided in his "wisdom" to completely ignore any suggestions, to the detriment of his book. Putting a French "Lyon" set in the Mexican section (as one of many examples) is little short of inexcusable. The Hamburg 150 th anniversary catalogue,(Shackpartie Durch Zeiten und Welten, Hans and Sigfried Hollander (I think)) is a far far better work.

[computojon]

When I get back from vacation, I will look through my (small) collection of antique chess books and snap photos of any chess pieces or sets. That will help identify styles and patterns of chess sets, attributable to a specific time period.

[cpe1991]

Jon Scanning is better than photographing. Alan F

[computojon]

Alan - true, but photographing is easier. One compromise that could suit all purposes is that I photograph, then scan anything interesting upon request.