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German grandmaster Lothar Schmid, who passed away in 2013, was by profession a co-owner of the Karl May publishing house in Bamberg and for that reason alone had a great affinity for books. Combined with his love of chess, this led him to become a collector of chess literature, and over the course of his life he assembled one of the largest collections of chess books. The collection grew so vast that he no longer knew exactly what he had already acquired. Some books he owned in several editions. His particular treasures, however, he surely knew well.
The most valuable items from his collection are now coming up for auction at Sotheby's. Anyone wishing to place something truly special on their chess bookshelf alongside titles such as Gewinnen mit Spanisch and 100 Endspiele, die du kennen musst should act now.
Admittedly, the lots on offer are not exactly cheap, but old chess books, like works of art, continually increase in value and provide reliable protection against inflation.
Lothar Schmid | Photo: Karl May Verlag Publisher
Among the works offered at Sotheby's are, for example:
Many other fine and rare exhibits, manuscripts and autographs are also available.
Find all books on offer at Sotheby's
Not only chess books are going under the hammer, however, but also other documents and manuscripts, for example from the Fischer–Spassky match in 1972, at which Lothar Schmid famously served as arbiter.
As one can see, there is something for everyone!
Not all the books are prohibitively expensive. Some lesser-known items can be obtained for just a few thousand pounds sterling (provided not too many chess enthusiasts start bidding - so perhaps it is best not to tell anyone).
Those wishing to go all in will naturally be especially interested in "the Lucena" from 1497, and thus the oldest surviving chess book. The work actually consists of two parts, and the first part has nothing to do with chess. It is an antifeminist poem.
Lucena's book has, of course, been the subject of extensive research. However, scholars have not been able to explain why the work begins in this unusual manner. Nor has the author been identified with certainty. One theory suggests he was the son of the ambassador Don Juan Ramírez de Lucena, although this remains disputed among experts. The work is undated, but its typography and references to historical figures point to a publication date of 1497. The printers have also been identified: Lope Sanz and the German Leonard Hutz, who had moved to Salamanca.
The number of surviving copies is limited, and their locations are precisely known. The vast majority are held in libraries. In Spain, there is one copy in the National Library in Madrid, another in the library of the Royal Academy of History, and a further copy in the Library of Catalonia. Damaged copies exist in the Biblioteca El Escorial and in the University Library of Salamanca. For unknown reasons, the opening pages preceding the chess treatise were removed in these examples. Another copy is held in the private collection of Bartolomé March.
A further copy, unfortunately damaged and incomplete, was discovered by Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa during his time at the German legation in Brazil. The book had reached Brazil as part of the library of King João VI of Portugal when he fled there during the Napoleonic invasion.
In the United States, complete copies are preserved in the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), the Cleveland Library, the J. Pierpont Library (New York), the Houghton Library of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Princeton University in New Jersey, and the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California.
In theory, one might even try to borrow a copy. Interlibrary loan is unlikely to be an option, however.
Among experts, the copy that Lothar Schmid kept in his private collection and which is now being auctioned at Sotheby's is considered the most splendid of the surviving originals.
In 1953, a facsimile edition was also published in Spain in a print run of 250 copies, based on an example from the Spanish National Library.
Those who do not wish to do things by halves would do best to bid directly at Sotheby's. This is possible both online and in person. English chess enthusiasts are organising a meeting with Jonathan Rowson and Dominic Lawson on 15 April as part of the auction's accompanying programme.
Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez at Sotheby's
Luis Ramírez de Lucena
Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez. [Salamanca: Leonardo Hutz and Lope Sanz, 1497]
FIRST EDITION, 2 parts in one volume, 4to (180 x 138 mm). COLLATION: a–d8 e1–3; A8 2a–2c8 2d–2e6 B–F8 G1–3: 122 leaves (only, of 124: lacking terminal blanks to both parts, each supplied on later paper stock), gothic type, numerous woodcuts of chessboards within woodcut borders, woodcut initials, some washed early modern annotations, modern maroon blind-stamped panelled calf over wooden boards, spine lettered in gilt, inner dentelles gilt, dampstaining throughout.
A RARE COPY OF THE OLDEST SURVIVING BOOK DEALING WITH PRACTICAL CHESS PLAY, and including 150 positions (although not the Lucena Defence or the Lucena Position). Lucena's book is particularly significant as it was written just after the modern rules of chess had emerged in Valencia in the 1470s. The most significant change was that the queen became much more powerful than in earlier versions of the game; the new game was much more dynamic and aggressive, so gained the name scacchi alla rabioso in Italy. Lucena describes both old and new chess in his book.
The Arte de Ajedrez forms the second part of this book, following the Repetición de Amores, an anti-feminist poem. Little is known about the author, who is recorded variously as Juan or Luis Ramírez de Lucena. He was probably a student in Salamanca and the son of the humanist Juan Lucena. Pérez de Arriaga suggests that the most likely date of printing is October 1497 (ISTC).
The book is exceptionally rare. 18 copies are recorded in ISTC and Rare Book Hub records just 2 copies sold at auction (Sotheby's London, 22 November 1984, lot 85 and Swann Galleries, 8 March 2018, lot 113), both of which lack the first part, which is PRESENT IN THIS COPY.
LITERATURE:
USTC 344916; ISTC il00317000 ("Frequently found without the 'Repetición de amores'" [i.e. Part 1]); Hain 10254; Pierpont Morgan Catalogue, Part III, 668 (giving full collation)
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