Description
von Bilguer, Paul Rudolf. Handbuch des Schachspiels. (Leipzig: Vereinigung Wissenschaftlicher Verleger de Gruyter, 1916) – 8th edition edited by Carl Schlechter. German Language.
Large Octavo. 1040 pages plus 2 pages adv. Hardcover. Bound in olive cloth covered boards stamped in gilt on front board and spine strip.
Condition: Fair. Well used. Shaken with wear to spine strip. Frontispiece appears reattached (see photo). Issue at gutter of page iv (see photo). Spine cracked between pages 1038-1039 (see photo). Book still presents well.
Provenance: Statement on FFE in pencil that this copy belonged to Gunnar Gundersen (1882-1943), an Australian chess master. (It is worth the time spent reading of his experience at Mannheim 1914 chess tournament.)
Paul Rudolf (or Rudolph) von Bilguer (21 September 1815 – 16 September 1840) was a German chess master and chess theoretician from Ludwigslust in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Bilguer, who was a lieutenant in the Prussian army, was sent to Berlin on a course, where he met the six gifted German players with whom he formed a group that became known as the ‘Berlin Pleiades’. He resigned his commission and devoted his time to chess. He was considered to be the most brilliant of the ‘Pleiades’ and was a good blindfold player.[1]
To the modern chess world he is known above all as the co-author of the Handbuch des Schachspiels. He died at age 24, probably of tuberculosis, before finishing the Handbuch, but the work was completed by his friend Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa, who gave primary credit to Bilguer. The Handbuch was for many years considered the definitive reference work on the game of chess, and on openings in particular. It was a precursor to later standard opening reference works such as Modern Chess Openings and Encyclopedia of Chess Openings. – Wikipedia
