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Paul Morphy – Life and Mementos
I recently got a reprint (2006) of a booklet entitled “Paul Morphy – His Later Life” by C. A. Buck. The publisher was Will H. Lyons, Newport, Kentucky (January, 1902).
This quote from pages 28-9:
Paul Morphy died suddenly at his home in New Orleans July 10, 1884. He had indulged in a long walk during the heat of the day and on his return home went to the bath room to bathe. It is supposed the shock of the cold water on his overheated body caused congestion of the brain, for he was found dead in the bath tub shortly afterward.
After his death his trophies were sold at auction. The silver service, consisting of a pitcher, four goblets and a salver, being the first prize won at the chess congress, was bought for $400 by Mr. Samory at New Orleans; the set of gold and silver chessmen was taken by Walter Denegre, acting for the Manhattan Chess club of New York, price $1550; and the silver wreath sold for $250, also bought by Mr. Samory.
______
Dale Brandreth writes of Will Lyons: To the best of my knowledge Will Lyons was the first chess book dealer anywhere. Full-time he was a paper salesman who got into selling chess books due to his interest in chess circa 1875 until his death 1932. His catalogues are quite interesting since they often contain items of the most extreme rarity, especially of American origin. There are scores of items not in the Niemeijer catalogue. His catalogues are of scarcity themselves except perhaps the tenth which I have seen fairly often.
______
What attracted me in the booklet mentioned at the top was this Publishers Preface:
“C. A. Buck of Toronto, Kansas is the author of this interesting and comprehensive biography of Paul Morphy”
Wikipedia clears up the mystery of why a city down there is named after a city up here: Toronto is a city in Woodson County, Kansas, United States, along the Verdigris River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 281.
Toronto was founded in 1869. It was named after the city of Toronto, Ontario. The name is derived from the Mohawk word tkaronto, meaning "place where trees stand in the water", which lies at the meeting of several rivers. A coal baron with land in County Durham was visiting the Canadian city when he was told that coal had been discovered under his land. He therefore decided to call the mine Toronto, whence the village also took its name.
________
There is a fascinating article by batgirl at:
http://www.chess.com/article/view/mementos-of-morphy
with photos of the bust of Morphy, the silver tray and salver, his watch, chessmen and board.
The board and pieces and the silver laurel are now missing but one wag said this in his comments:
The missing items will turn up on Antiques Roadshow some day and the assessor will be just beside himself.
Is batgirl a girl chess historian? Do such exist?
I recently got a reprint (2006) of a booklet entitled “Paul Morphy – His Later Life” by C. A. Buck. The publisher was Will H. Lyons, Newport, Kentucky (January, 1902).
This quote from pages 28-9:
Paul Morphy died suddenly at his home in New Orleans July 10, 1884. He had indulged in a long walk during the heat of the day and on his return home went to the bath room to bathe. It is supposed the shock of the cold water on his overheated body caused congestion of the brain, for he was found dead in the bath tub shortly afterward.
After his death his trophies were sold at auction. The silver service, consisting of a pitcher, four goblets and a salver, being the first prize won at the chess congress, was bought for $400 by Mr. Samory at New Orleans; the set of gold and silver chessmen was taken by Walter Denegre, acting for the Manhattan Chess club of New York, price $1550; and the silver wreath sold for $250, also bought by Mr. Samory.
______
Dale Brandreth writes of Will Lyons: To the best of my knowledge Will Lyons was the first chess book dealer anywhere. Full-time he was a paper salesman who got into selling chess books due to his interest in chess circa 1875 until his death 1932. His catalogues are quite interesting since they often contain items of the most extreme rarity, especially of American origin. There are scores of items not in the Niemeijer catalogue. His catalogues are of scarcity themselves except perhaps the tenth which I have seen fairly often.
______
What attracted me in the booklet mentioned at the top was this Publishers Preface:
“C. A. Buck of Toronto, Kansas is the author of this interesting and comprehensive biography of Paul Morphy”
Wikipedia clears up the mystery of why a city down there is named after a city up here: Toronto is a city in Woodson County, Kansas, United States, along the Verdigris River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 281.
Toronto was founded in 1869. It was named after the city of Toronto, Ontario. The name is derived from the Mohawk word tkaronto, meaning "place where trees stand in the water", which lies at the meeting of several rivers. A coal baron with land in County Durham was visiting the Canadian city when he was told that coal had been discovered under his land. He therefore decided to call the mine Toronto, whence the village also took its name.
________
There is a fascinating article by batgirl at:
http://www.chess.com/article/view/mementos-of-morphy
with photos of the bust of Morphy, the silver tray and salver, his watch, chessmen and board.
The board and pieces and the silver laurel are now missing but one wag said this in his comments:
The missing items will turn up on Antiques Roadshow some day and the assessor will be just beside himself.
Is batgirl a girl chess historian? Do such exist?
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