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The Chess
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Editor: Dr Tim |
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The Chess
History |
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Editor: Dr Tim |
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© Dr Tim Harding
Last modified:
4 August 2011
The history of these magazines is extremely confusing. This page sheds light on the matter.
Articles on this subject have appeared in Quarterly for Chess History (volume 8, pages 458-462) by the late Ken Whyld, and volume 13, pages 297-301 by me. However, it is now clear to me that Ranken almost certainly had no connection with the magazine after 1880. After writing the latter article I was finally able to see, in Cleveland, the two numbers that were unavailable in either London or The Hague.
The British Miscellany (volume 1, January-May 1841) was published rather irregularly in three ‘monthly’ parts and contained some chess articles by Howard Staunton from February. Advertisements mentioning chess first appeared in February in The Times and in Bell's Life in London, clearly seeking to attrract a new readership. The word 'Chronicle' was first mentioned in an advertisement for Part 3 in The Times. A complete volume of The British Miscellany can be found in the British Library but the way it is bound, starting with the wrapper for Part 3 (April) is misleading. Clearly, publication unexpectedly ceased and no title page or index for the volume was ever issued for binders to place at the front, as was customary.
The British Miscellany & Chess Player’s Chronicle (volume 1, 1 May to 23 Oct. 1841). Staunton took over at the start of May and made it a weekly chess magazine, dropping the ‘British Miscellany’ tag (and occasional non-chess content) after the first volume. Pope is in error in assigning years to the early volumes and only has it right from volume 7. Some title pages have the wrong year printed on them. Whyld clarified the dates in the early years.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle (vol. 2, 30 Oct. 1841-30 April 1842).
The Chess Player’s Chronicle (vol. 3, 7 May-29 Oct. 1842). No issues appeared in November or December according to Whyld’s dating. Thereafter volumes correspond to calendar years.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle (vols. 4-7, 1843-1846). Published monthly, Jan-Dec .Many people, including Jeremy Gaige, have been misled by the title page for volume 5 saying 1845 although the contents pertain to 1844.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle (vol. 8, 1847). Published weekly, on Saturdays.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle (vols. 9-13, Jan. 1848-Dec. 1852). Monthly publication.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle (New Series, vols. 1-4, 1853-Aug. 1856). The ‘new series’ actually bridges two editors because Staunton sold the copyright to R. B. Brien during July 1854 and the August 1854 issue (page 225) announces his retirement. The magazine collapsed during 1856, due to a combination of financial failure and Brien’s alcoholism. There was therefore no British chess magazine in publication in 1857-8 and hence for reports one must rely upon the weekly columns.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle (Third Series, vols. 1-4, 1859-July 1862). The title was revived in this period in association with Starie’s Philidorian Chess Rooms. The editorship is unclear but Adolf Zytogorski was probably most regularly involved. Other foreigners have been named too, particularly Kolisch, but he was only in London for part of this period. After this series, all connection with the original publication can be considered to have ended, although the Chess Player’s Magazine (1863-7) can be seen as an attempt to do something similar.
The Chess Players’ Quarterly Chronicle (York; vols. 1-2, 1868-71; bi-monthly from 1869; then vols. 3-4, 1872-75, with the word ‘Quarterly’ removed from the headers and issue titles but remaining on the volume titles). Under the editorship of the Rev. Arthur Bolland Skipworth, the emphasis is now firmly on amateur and provincial chess. Skipworth gave up the magazine at the end of 1875, having secured a living at Tetford in his native county of Lincolnshire.
The Chess Players’ Chronicle: A monthly record of provincial chess (vol. 5, Glasgow, Jan.-Mar. 1876). Edited by John Jenkin, who had been chess editor of the Glasgow Weekly Herald, and keeping the volume sequence. The publishers were stated to be A. R. Goldie (Glasgow), J. Menzies & Co. (Edinburgh) and George Bell and Sons (London). Only three issues appeared and some lists omit this year altogether. Pope omits them and they have not as yet been reproduced in facsimile by the Moravian Chess reprint house.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle: New series (vol. 1, 1877). This series is sometimes called the fifth series. Edited as a monthly by the Rev. Charles Edward Ranken. Published by Dean and Son, London, and Thos. Murray & Son, Glasgow.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle: New series (vols. 2-4, 1878-80). Edited by Ranken. The issues themseves say published by W. W. Morgan, also Dean and Son, London. However, the Westminster Papers (volume 10, April 1878, page 212) clarifies:
'The Chess Player’s Chronicle has passed into hands of Mr W. W. Morgan, 67 Barbican, whose well known energy and enterprise should and will, we hope, ensure the permanent success of this excellent Chess periodical.'
The Chess Player’s Chronicle and Journal of Indoor and Outdoor Amusements. (vols. 5-6, 1881-2). Published by W. W. Morgan, retaining the sequence of volumes from the Ranken years but with a larger page format (later reduced) with some non-chess content. Editor anonymous, but possibly was W. W. Morgan junior: Betts’s bibliography named ‘C. C. Weekly’ but there was probably no such person. Isidor Gunsberg was named as Games Editor for a time but publication ceased at the end of 1882.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle and Journal of Indoor and Outdoor Amusements. Vol. 7, June 1883-11 June 1884; Vol. 8, 25 June 1884-May 1885; Vol. 9, June 1885-7 July 1886; Vol. 10, 14 July 1886-20 Mar. 1889 (ending with no. 360). Publication started to break down and become irregular from summer 1887; for more details see my QCH article. Many of these later issues contain little original material, often taking copy from provincial columns. The British Library and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek have incomplete sets; a complete run probably exists in the John G. White Collection, Cleveland, Ohio. No editor is stated.
From this point it is useful to keep track of the issue numbers.
The Chess Player’s Chronicle (dropping the subtitle):
Vol. 11. May 1889-Mar. 1891; nos. 361-412.
Vol. 12. April 1891-April 1892; nos. 413-446.
No publication in 1893-4; Whyld noted in Quarterly for Chess History 8, p. 461, that the publisher W. W. Morgan died on 23 June 1893; he did not state where he found this information. Morgan’s son, W. Wray Morgan junior, apparently took over the business. He was probably effectively in charge from an earlier date. He may have paid Gunsberg to do some of the work. Gunsberg is known to have been friendly with Morgan jr., and lived close to him at one time. A lot of the content, however, is just culled from chess columns
Vol. 13, Nos 447-483, 13 Mar-20 Nov. 1895. In his article, Whyld placed no. 483 incorrectly in the next volume.
Vol. 14 consisted only of Nos. 484-7, 5-26 Feb. 1896. Then no publication for two years.
Vol. 15 covered 15 Mar. 1899-14 June 1899: Nos. 488-501.
Vol. 16 from 3 Jan.-21 Mar. 1900: Nos. 502-8. (Only complete in Cleveland.)
The Chess Chronicle was the title of the two final volumes, which were in a smaller page format and were associated with the final unsuccessful relaunch of the British Chess Club Company, of which Leopold Hoffer was a director. Morgan junior seems to have retained ownership (advertisements for his products appear) and Tony Gillam says the magazine died when he did, in 1902, but the collapse of the company may have been a factor too.
Vol. 17 runs from no. 509 (4 Sept. 1901) to no. 522 (18 Dec). Vol. 18 from no. 523 (1 Jan. 1902) to no. 540 (25 June); Betts incorrectly said no. 537 was the last.