ANTIQUES FOR MEN,h, A.C. REVI,Castle Books, , CHESS SET AUCTION CATALOGS. Also toy soldiers, and many other artistic objects. h, exc. $24.

    For collectors of fine and expensive chess sets these auction catalogs are often of great utility in gauging prices even though one must take into account inflation and the difficulty in dealing with objects made from ivory.

    These Catalogs are all in excellent condition and have a wonderful variety of beautiful chess sets. In some cases single pieces, especially from extremely early sets, are listed. B&W = Black & White, color if not indicated; pages in the catalog, LP=List of prices realized. in £  or in a few cases in dollars.The photography is generally excellent. These catalogues are all relatively recent and therefore are more relevant than those,say 30 to 100 years ago in term of  prices.The many color photos are also an improvement over B & W  photos. 

CHRISTIE'S AUCTION CATALOG. OCTOBER 10, 1978,SILHOUETTES, MINIATURES,  CHESS-SETS and OBJECTS OF VERTU,p, exc,  B&W photos of only 12 sets. Total of 23 sets. Some original and interesting sets. $18

1) Phillips, May 15, 1995. LP,  89 lots, 33p . B&W, $28

2) Christies, Sept. 27, 1995, LP, 219 lots, 43p,  $40

3) Phillips, Nov. 27, 1995, 117 lots, 39p, $30

4) Phillips, May 13, 1996, B& W, 186 lots, 49p, $35

5) Phillips, Nov. 6, 1996, NY, B&W, 115 lots, 34p, $30

6) Phillips, May 12, 1997, B&W, 115 lots, 39p, some chess books, $32

7) Christies Chess Sets & Walking Sticks, Dec. 17, 1997,  127 chess sets & 178 walking sticks lots, color, 52p, $40

8) Phillips, May 15, 2001, B&W, 10 lots chess books; 172 total lots, LP, 42p, $35

9) Phillips, Nov. 20, 2001, B&W, Bidder made some notes, 243 lots, LP, $35

10) Cooper Owen Gallery, Nov. 4, 2002, Some color, LP, 275 lots, 61p, $45

11) Bloomsbury Auctions, Oct. 26, 2004, color, LP, 241 lots incl. several from other board games, some prints and very early chess pieces. 58p, Some sets from the Ernst Boehlen collection, $42

12)Bloomsbury Auctions, Nov. 3, 2005, LP, color, 300 lots of which 97 were on chess books incl. many fine early works, and 28 were various game boards, the rest chess sets. $45

13) Bloomsbury Auctions, May 18, 2006, LP, color, 163 lots of which 63 were prints largely on chess, a mah-jong set, cribbage, etc, the rest chess sets. $45

14) Bloomsbury Auctions, Collector’s Autumn Sale, Sept. 25, 2007, LP,  color, 141p, 1007 lots of which the first 232 are vintage modern and limited edition fountain pens; lots 233 on chess prints and chess books, 269 to 469 on chess board and sets;  military medals from 470 to 590; 591 to 748 to bonds and shares; bank notes from 752 to 771; ancient coins from 772 to 873;  British coins 874 to 934; and 935 to 1007 to coins of the world. $55

15)Bonhams, May 13, 2008, color, 106p, 281 lots incl. some chess prints, $50

16) Bloomsbury Auctions, Collectors Sale, May 30, 2007, LP, color, 1032 lots of which 217 lots are for chess(mainly sets with some chess books, boards, clocks and prints). The remainder of the lots are military and commemorative medals, coins and bank notes.   $45 

17) Phillips, May 28, 1998, B&W, 183 lots, mainly sets with a few lots of books and ephemera. $28 

18)Phillips, May 12, 1997,B&W, 115 lots incl. 10 lots chess books and ephemera, $25

19)Phillips, April 20, 1999,B&W, 149 lots incl. several lots of chess books and ephemera, $25

20)Phillips, May 15, 2001, B&W, 172 lots incl. a few lots of chess books and Phillips catalogs. $30

CHESSMEN FOR COLLECTORS, V. Keats, London, 1985, h, exc, with dj, 240p. A beautiful book with gorgeous  photos, though mainly B&W Also has much  chess history of set development, though at times (p. 213) a bit wide of the mark as when he calls Union General George McClellan "one of Lee's keenest opponents and his ability in battle...". Actually Lincoln had to replace McClellan for his shilly shalling ineptness in taking the fight to the Confederate forces.  Faint stain on edges not affecting text. $70

SCHACH - FIGUREN UND SPIELE VOM MITTELALTER BIS GEGENWART, in  conjunction with the Chess Olympiad in 1982. German. p, mint, 84 p with many fine black & white photos of chess pieces of many varieties from the middle ages to modern times. A brief history of chess pieces plus chess history in general. $65  XR-1

IS IT IVORY?, Harvey Shell, Tulsa, 1983, p, exc, 76p. A useful book for collectors of ivory object, incl. chess pieces, though they are not given special treatment. Treats the identification of genuine ivory and its protection from the elements. $10

CHESS SETS, A QUAINT HOBBY, 1p, July 1932, unknown source citing an exhibition of fime sets in NY City fro the Pfeiffer and Liddell Collections, with one photo of three special sets, $1

CHESSS AND STAMPS, P.C. Burnett, Chippenham, 1972, p, exc, 45p. with reproductions of many stamps and special covers, etc. $25

THE LEWIS CHESSMEN, James Robinson, The British Museum Press, 64p, p, mint, A nice account of these famous pieces with excellent photos. $14

BLOOMSBURY AUCTIONS FINE CHESS SETS AND GAMES INCLUDING PROPERTY FROM THE ERNST BOEHLEN COLLECTION, OCT. 2004,p, mint, 58p, 241 lots. many exquisite items. $40

 

BLOOMSBURY BOOK AUCTIONS, JULY 24, 2003, p, mint, 49p, 156 chess book lots, many very fine items. $30

 

FREEMAN'S FINE CHESS SETS & MEMORABILIA, auction May 25, 20902, p, mint, a nice catalogue with 149 sets auction and another 80 sets exhibited from outstanding collections. 71p. $40

CHESSMEN AND CHESS, Charles Wilkinson, Metropolitan Museum of Art, reprint, 1943. Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. 9p, $12

 

COOPER OWEN (London) FINE CHESS SETS AND TRADITIONAL GAMES AUCTION CATALOGUE NOV. 2002, p, exc, 64p, 275 lots, many fine color plates of gorgeous sets plus a few books incl. a 1584 Tarsia Ruy Lopez. $45

 

ENCHANTED CHESSMEN:A WORLD OF FANTASY, Cleveland Public Library. Alice N. Loranth, Cleveland, 1996, p, exc, 66p, with many colored illustrations & descriptions of some of the chess sets which are part of the John G. White Collection. $26

 

FINE CHESS SETS, OBJECTS OF VERTU, CLOCKS, WATCHES AND CONTINENTAL & ENGLISH SILVER, Sotheby Parke Bernet, auction of Feb. 6 & 7, 1980. 129 gorgeous sets with photos of many.p, exc, $35

 

WORKS OF ART- THE JAY C. LEFF COLLECTION OF CHESS SETS, Park-Bernet Galleries, 1969, with 54 chess sets, with prices realized pencilled in. $30

GAMING - THE ARTS & LIVING, E. T. Joy, London, 1982, Victoria & Albert Museum, p, exc, Playing Cards, Card Tables,Board Games, Backgammon & Chess Tables, Shovel-boards, Billiard Tables, Bibliography. with 27 photos, some in color. $18

 

HISTORY OF CHESSMEN, E. Katz, London, 1963, 1st ed, illustrations of 42 chess sets, with descriptive history of various types. 38p text & 21 B&W plates. $35

 

MASTER PIECES, G. Williams, London, 2000, h, exc, with dj, 160p. Many color plates featuring mainly chess pieces and sets from very early times to the present. A truly beautiful book with historical chess photos and drawings plus an interesting text giving an overview of chess history with many stops along the way. Now O/P. $35

 

METROPOLITAN ARTS & ANTIQUES PAVILION AUCTION CATALOG, April 1993, p, vg, with prices realized. With addendum & errata sheets. 170 lots. Black & white photos. $25

 

THE ART OF CHESS. C. Schafroth, NY, 2002, h, exc, O/P, 175p, an abbreviated history of chess with many superb color plates of some of the thousands of unique sets and individual chess pieces, with dj. $36

 

VARIOUS MOVIE STARS PLAYING CHESS WITH FANCY SETS, 8x10 in B&W professional quality photos. These photos are from movies in the 40's to the 60s. In each case a different style set is in use. The actors names are those in the photos. FS=fancy (non-Staunton) set. CS=Staunton pattern set. These were all Hollywood generated photos, probably for promoting individual movies. a) Fugitive Lady with Neil Hamilton, FS. b) Green Hell with John Howard, James Whale, George Sanders, CS. c) Charles Bickford, movie not indicate, FS. d) Charles Bickford & Leslie Fluton, FS, movie not indicated. e) Leslie Fluton, movie not indicated, CS. f) Mightier than the Sword, Georgia Barbier, Wendy Barrie, Henry Hunter, CS. g) Blind Alley, Ralph Bellamy, Rose Stradner, Chestere Morris, CS. h) Unholy Love, Lila Lee and Lyle Talbot, CS. $25 per photo or $20 per photo if more than four are bought at one time.  

L'ARTE DEGLI SCACCHI,Firenze, 2000. A book full of beautiful items: chess sets, chess pictorial material, early chess books, etc p, exc, 140p. $65