Morphy's Games of Chess, and Frère's Problem Tournament by Thomas Frère

Morphy's Games of Chess, and Frère's Problem Tournament
by Thomas Frère

New York: T.W. Strong. 1859. Presumed first edition.

Condition: Small hardcover (4"x6" inches and 144 pages) has moderate scuffing on covers, blind-stamped design, corners and spine ends a bit rubbed. Ex-library with faint white notations on the lower spine, bookplate for the Theosophical University Library at Point Loma, California and a presentation inscription on the ffep, with two dates, 1891 and 1906. On the back endpapers there is also a signature, upside down from the text-block, dated 1859, appearing to read "Wm Patriarch, Hamilton, August 27, 1859". The title page has a couple faint library stamps and a pencil notation in the upper inside corner. There are pencil marks scattered throughout from a previous owner, and only a few scattered words such as "Wonderful!" and "Splendid!" beside the list of moves in a game. There is some light page discoloration throughout the book but nothing excessive. Binding remains secure.

From chessgames.com: Thomas Frère was one of the foremost promoters of chess in the USA in the 19th century. He helped organize the 1st American Chess Congress (1857) in New York. He was a player in the minor tournament of that congress. He organized the first Brooklyn chess club. He was one of the organizers of the Manhattan Chess Club. He organized the Fifth American Chess Congress in 1880 and the Sixth American Chess Congress in 1886. He worked as a clerk at the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York. In 1855, a chess column appeared in Frank Leslie’s New York Journal and Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, edited by Frere. In March 1859, he wrote a chess column for The Brooklyn Daily Eagle.