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Emanuel Lasker and the Comprehension of the World
Emanuel Lasker – The Life of a Chess Master by Dr. Jacques Hannak (1959) is a biography of the man with 100 annotated games.
Hannak writes that after the match with Schlechter in 1910, Lasker “retired” from chess for almost five years. He got married in 1911 to Martha Marco. After a 1912 tour of the USA, the Laskers purchased a strip of land some twenty miles from Berlin and Emanuel took on the new role of a farmer, who was going to plant his own cabbages, to dig his own potatoes and to breed poultry.
He spent a great deal of time during this period writing one of his philosophical works, Das Begreifen der Welt [the comprehension of the world]. It was published in 1913 by Hans Joseph – 491 pages, with a weight near one kilo.
When I read about this as a teenager I thought how wonderful it would be to possess this book, by a chess player, that explained the universe.
The chance to buy it came today, when a copy went up for auction on the German eBay. Alas, the bidding was too heavy for me and with 104 bids, it sold for 442 euros or $609 US. If you care to see the details, the eBay item number is 35096464922.
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There is also a copy for sale from an American used bookseller. The online description reads:
Berlin: Verlag Hans Joseph GmbH., Berlin, Bülowstrasse, 1913, 1913. , 491pp., good white woven cloth but with private library call number in white ink at bottom of spine with area blacked out, some heavy foxing around page edges, front hinge starting, two very tiny ancient wormholes at top corner of last few pages, Hebrew library stamp on copyright page with ink number notation, INSCRIBED on title page and SIGNED: Emanuel: "Meinem spät gefundenen, um so herzlicher geliebten Felicitas / 25.III.'27 / Emanuel. Ink notation in old German hand on blank page across from title page reads: "Spende von Fr. Felicia Isaac an die Staatsbibliothek in Tel Aviv. Originalwidmung des Verfassers.". .
This rare inscribed copy will set you back $1750 US.
For the collector, possessing has the same importance as reading the volume. Unfortunately, I can do neither!
Lasker must be one of the most prolific writers among the World Champions. Others in that category would be Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik and Kasparov.
Emanuel Lasker – The Life of a Chess Master by Dr. Jacques Hannak (1959) is a biography of the man with 100 annotated games.
Hannak writes that after the match with Schlechter in 1910, Lasker “retired” from chess for almost five years. He got married in 1911 to Martha Marco. After a 1912 tour of the USA, the Laskers purchased a strip of land some twenty miles from Berlin and Emanuel took on the new role of a farmer, who was going to plant his own cabbages, to dig his own potatoes and to breed poultry.
He spent a great deal of time during this period writing one of his philosophical works, Das Begreifen der Welt [the comprehension of the world]. It was published in 1913 by Hans Joseph – 491 pages, with a weight near one kilo.
When I read about this as a teenager I thought how wonderful it would be to possess this book, by a chess player, that explained the universe.
The chance to buy it came today, when a copy went up for auction on the German eBay. Alas, the bidding was too heavy for me and with 104 bids, it sold for 442 euros or $609 US. If you care to see the details, the eBay item number is 35096464922.
+++++++++
There is also a copy for sale from an American used bookseller. The online description reads:
Berlin: Verlag Hans Joseph GmbH., Berlin, Bülowstrasse, 1913, 1913. , 491pp., good white woven cloth but with private library call number in white ink at bottom of spine with area blacked out, some heavy foxing around page edges, front hinge starting, two very tiny ancient wormholes at top corner of last few pages, Hebrew library stamp on copyright page with ink number notation, INSCRIBED on title page and SIGNED: Emanuel: "Meinem spät gefundenen, um so herzlicher geliebten Felicitas / 25.III.'27 / Emanuel. Ink notation in old German hand on blank page across from title page reads: "Spende von Fr. Felicia Isaac an die Staatsbibliothek in Tel Aviv. Originalwidmung des Verfassers.". .
This rare inscribed copy will set you back $1750 US.
For the collector, possessing has the same importance as reading the volume. Unfortunately, I can do neither!
Lasker must be one of the most prolific writers among the World Champions. Others in that category would be Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik and Kasparov.
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