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Rare and Antiquarian Books

Gambling and Gaming

You do not have to travel to Las Vegas to learn about gambling and other games. If you are interested in learning more about the history or strategies of gambling, be sure to browse the rare books about gambling and games section of the Biblio Rare Book Room for some fascinating and interesting reads. Many of the rare and antique books featured below may be first editions, signed, or complete with illustrations and ornate bindings. Look through the featured items below for some truly collectible rare and antique books on games and gambling.

Results 1 - 15 of 189
THE SPORTING REPOSITORY Containing Horse-racing, Hunting, Coursing, Shooting .., Anecdotes on...

THE SPORTING REPOSITORY Containing Horse-racing, Hunting, Coursing, Shooting .., Anecdotes on Sporting Subjects, interspersed with Essays, Tales, and a Great Variety of Miscellaneous Articles.

by McLean,Thomas (publisher), Alken and Barenger (illustrators)

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  • very good
  • Hardcover
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Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
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Blockley, Gloucestershire
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London: Printed by W. Lewis for Thomas McLean, 26, Haymarket, 1822. Hardcover. Very Good. Hand-coloured aquatint plates (16 of 19) after H. Alken and J. Barenger by G. and T. Hunt.. Volume I, Nos. I-VI Jan-June 15 1822 [all published] Royal octavo red half roan, original boards covered in blue sugar paper, spine title gilt (rebacked with matching red roan corners, original spine laid on), original free end-papers with new pastedown, armorial bookplate with motto DA VIS and pencilled ownership H. Davis at head of titlepage, vi + [2]pp list of engravings +540pp +16 of 19 hand-colored plates. LACKS 4 text leaves (pp 217-24) - the missing 3 plates and 4 text leaves in colour facsimile reproduced from the 1904 reprint, bound in to match. One gathering with edges browned, some offsetting from plates to text, otherwise clean and crisp throughout. *Beautiful bright hand-coloured plates of hunting, shooting, tandem-driving, livestock etc. Very rare in original edition (Schwerdt II p.212 "the first and only… Read More
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Le jeu des Eschets
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Le jeu des Eschets

by Giaccino Greco (1600-1634)

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  • good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Hardcover
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Fort Worth, Texas
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A$1,314.36
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343 pages. Duodecimo (5 ½" x 3 ¼"). Bound in vellum with black lettering to spine. Originally written in 1619 in Italian. [Biblioteca van Der Niemeijeriana: 402]Gioachino Greco, also known as Il Calabrese, was born around 1600 in Celico, which near Cosenza in Calabria. Calabria had already produced such players as Leonardo di Bono and Michele di Mauro. From his writing it's apparent the he wasn't educated and likely came from a lower class family. Already in 1619, Greco started keeping a notebook of tactics and particularly clever games and he took up the custom of giving copies of his manuscripts to his wealthy patrons. In Rome Monsignor Corsino della casa Minutoli Tegrini, Cardinal Savelli and Monsignor Francisco Buoncompagni all received copies (of which there are extant copies, dated 1620 in the Corsiniana library in Rome, under the title, Trattato del nobilissimo gioco de scacchi). Despite his popularity in Rome, in 1621 Greco took off to test himself against the rest of Europe leaving this… Read More
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Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs avec des reflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu
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Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs avec des reflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu

by Elias Stein (1748-1812)

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  • good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Good
Edition
First
Binding
Hardcover
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Fort Worth, Texas
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viii+x+254 pages with illustrations. Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/4") bound quarter leather with marbled boards and gilt lettering to spine Page ends marbled. This first edition was not for sale and intended for subscribers only, of which an interesting list is added with 196 names. The princes themselves subscribed for 24 copies. With some copies for the author about 250 copies would have been printed. (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 547) First edition.Elias Stein was a Dutch chess master, born in Lorraine into a Jewish family, he settled in The Hague. There he became the royal court's player. He explicitly related the experience of playing chess to military strategic ability. He was teacher of the princes of Orange to whom the book is dedicated in print, among them the later King William I.He recommended the Dutch Defence as the best reply to 1.d4 in his book Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs, avec des réflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu (1789), later published in Dutch (1834).His… Read More
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Der Erste und Zweite Kongress des Deutschen Schachbundes
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Der Erste und Zweite Kongress des Deutschen Schachbundes

by Schallopp, Emil (1843-1919)

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  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
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Fort Worth, Texas
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viii+228 pages with diagrams and tables lacks frontispiece. Octavo (8" x 5 1/2") bound in 3/4 leather with black boards and gilt lettering to spine. (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana:5210) First edition.The city of Leipzig was the birthplace of the Deutschen Schachbund on July 18th, 1877. Over the next two years sixty-two chess clubs would become members of the foundling chess federation. Hofrat von Gottschall became the chairman of the federation and Hermann Zwanzig was made the general secretary. The Deutschen Schachbund reconvened at the Schützenhaus on July 15th, 1879. To commemorate the meeting, a Schachkongresse master's tournament was organized. This inaugural event was largely an internal affair. Three invitations went out to Austrian chess masters: Berthold Englisch, Karl Pitschel, and Adolf Schwarz. The remaining nine seats went to German chess masters: Louis and Wilfried Paulsen, Max Bier, Ernst Flechsig, Fritz Riemann, Emil Schallopp, Arnold Schottlaender, Johannes Von Minckwitz,… Read More
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The Chess Monthly Volume I
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The Chess Monthly Volume I

by Daniel Willard Fiske (1831-1904) and Paul Morphy (editors)

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  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - About very good
Edition
First
Binding
Hardcover
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Fort Worth, Texas
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A$3,092.60
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v+402 pages with diagrams. Octavo (9" x 6 1/4") bound in full leather with gilt lettering to spine with black labels and original wrappers bound in. From the library of Jsames J Barrett. Volume I. (Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 6389) (Hagedorn: 36) First edition.Fiske's Chess Monthly, launched when he was just twenty five years of age, was an outstanding periodical when first published between 1857 and 1861, probably the best in the English language up to that time, and for a long time thereafter; (John Keeble wrote in The British Chess Magazine in November 1931, page 496, "it is safe to say that [Fiske's] magazine remains to this day the most interesting thing of the kind ever issued"), and, 160 years later, it is still an extraordinarily interesting read for chess history and literature devotees. The Problem Department by E B Cook. This was one of the first magazines published in America. It was started in 1857 and lasted until 1861. It was published at the height of Morphy's popularity… Read More
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La Nouvelle Régence, Revue Spéciale des Échecs
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La Nouvelle Régence, Revue Spéciale des Échecs

by Paul Journoud (1821-1882) [editor]

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  • good
  • Paperback
  • first
Condition
Used - Good
Edition
First
Binding
Paperback
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Fort Worth, Texas
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384 pages with diagrams. Octavo (8 3/4" x 5 1/2") with original wrappers. From the library of James Barrett. Volume 3. (Bibliotheca Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 6016). First edition.Volume one was published as La Régence and Nouvelle was added to the title starting with volume two. First published in 1860 and discontinued in 1864. Edited by Paul Journoud, who was a member of the Café de la Régence Chess Club of Paris. He was an editor of several chess periodicals: La Régence (1860), La Nouvelle Régence (1861–1864), Le Palamède Français (1864), and Le Sphinx (1865–1867).James J. Barrett wrote a few chess columns in the Buffalo area. In a chess magazine beginning on page 1 of the March 1948 Chess Review: he wrote a letter of complaint about the magazine's choice of front-cover photographs. He played a substantial role in Paul Morphy The Pride and Sorrow of Chess by David Lawson (New York, 1976), and in the Acknowledgments (page vii) Lawson wrote, 'I wish particularly to express gratitude for… Read More
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Johannes Zukertort: Artist of the Chessboard
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Johannes Zukertort: Artist of the Chessboard

by James "Jimmy" Bernard Adams

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  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good to fine
Edition
First
Binding
Hardcover
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Fort Worth, Texas
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534 pages with diagrams, plate, illustration, tables and indexes. Royal octavo (9 1/4" x 6) Bound in original red cloth with gilt lettering to spine and front cover. First edition limited to 575 copies.As one of the contestants in the first official World Championship match in 1886, Johannes Hermann Zukertort (1842-1888), is undeniably one of the great players of chess history. Despite a commanding lead in the early stages of that match, Zukertort ultimately had to bow for Steinitz, plagued by health problems that would cause his untimely death only two years later. The high-point of Zukertort s career was his triumph at the 1883 super-tournament in London. His dazzling win against Blackburne still stands as one of the greatest games of all time. Acclaimed chess author Jimmy Adams presents a selection of Zukertort s best games, mainly annotated by Zukertort himself, and a collection of insightful articles on Zukertort from contemporary sources. At heart, Zukertort always remained an artist of the… Read More
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Les stratagèmes des échecs, ou collection des cours d'échecs les plus brillans et les plus...
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Les stratagèmes des échecs, ou collection des cours d'échecs les plus brillans et les plus curieux, tant dans la partie ordinaire que dans les différentes parties composées; tirés des meilleurs auteurs, et dont plusieurs n'ont point encore été pub

by Alfred de Montigny

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  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
First
Binding
Hardcover
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Fort Worth, Texas
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A$3,479.18
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2 volumes in one: 93+[1 blank] pages with tables, engraved plate in the text volume; 122 page of color diagrams. Sextodecimo (4 3/4" x 4") bound in period leather with gilt stamping to spine and red spine label. First chess book to be published in color. Date reads X after the French revolution started publishing with the date I in 1792.(Schaakboekerij Niemeijer 1788); (Van der Linde-Niemeijeriana:2152); (Rimington-Wilson 991-994); (Anton Schmid, Lit. des Schachspiels, page 325) First edition.First edition of a fine chess manual, a classic in its field, the plates here beautifully colored by hand. The engraved plate in the text volume of a chess board with all chess pieces set up in the starting position, the fields colored in white and gold and the pieces in red and black, the gold and red colored by hand (opposite page 28), and 120 engraved plates with similarly hand colored chess boards depicting chess problems in the plates volume. The tables with the full proceedings of all the chess games,… Read More
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Scacchia ludus: a Poem on the Game of chess
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Scacchia ludus: a Poem on the Game of chess

by Vida, Marco Girolamo [Bishop of Alba] (c1485-1566)

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  • very good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Hardcover
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Fort Worth, Texas
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A$1,237.04
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vi+95 pages with one diagram. Royal octavo (9 1/4" x 5 3/4") bound in brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Translated into English verse by the Rev. Samuel Pullein. (Whyld and Ravillous 1750:4)Parallel Latin and English texts. Royal Dublin Society award for the "Best book written and printed in Ireland" for 1750.Marco Girolamo Vida or Marcus Hieronymus Vida was an Italian humanist, bishop and poet. Vida wrote a considerable amount of Latin poetry, both secular and sacred, in classical style, particular the style of Virgil. Among his best-known works are the didactic poem in three books, De arte poetica (On the Art of Poetry), partly inspired by Horace, and Scacchia Ludus (The Game of Chess), translated into many languages over the centuries. Both poems were first published in 1527.Condition:Rebound, the chess collector Manfred Mittelbach blind stamp to front end paper, title with some edge wear else a very good copy.
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Studies of Chess: containing Caissa, A Poem, by Sir William Jones; a Systematic Introduction to...
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Studies of Chess: containing Caissa, A Poem, by Sir William Jones; a Systematic Introduction to the Game; and the Whole Analysis of Chess

by Philidor, A.D. and Pratt,Peter

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Condition
Used
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San Anselmo, California
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London. Samuel Bagster. 1803. Handsomely bound in full period Tree Calf. Gilt ruled spine compartments. Red morocco,gilt title label. 8vo. 5.25"x8.5 The First Edition.Two Volumes in One. Complete as issued. Illustrated with a copperplate engraved Frontis of a chessboard and pieces. Rare First Edition of this early collection of writings on Chess and according to Hooper and Whyld (318) its chief merit is that it contains the whole of Philidor.The book also includes Sir William James's poem 'Caissa' while the introductory portion is from Peter Pratt's Theory of Chess. François-André Danican Philidor (1726-1795), was regarded as the best chess player of his age; his book Analyse du jeu des Échecs was a standard chess manual for at least a century,and is regarded as the most influential book on the modern game. A well-known opening and checkmate method are both named after him. Small repaired chip to headpiece. Some very sporadic offset, else a remarkably crisp and bright Fine copy of the exquisitely… Read More
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Cards As Weapons

Cards As Weapons

by Jay, Ricky

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  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
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Winnipeg, Manitoba
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New York: Darien House [0-88201-017-4] 1977, 1st printing. (4to) 95pp. Fine in fine dust jacket. Illustrations, photographs. The only flaw is a minor toning along the inside top and bottom edges of the dust jacket, which is not visible from the printed side of the jacket. (Magic, Card Tricks, Magic, Playing Cards).
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I giochi numerici fatti arcani, palesati.
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I giochi numerici fatti arcani, palesati.

by Alberti, Giuseppe Antonio.

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  • good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Good
Edition
First edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Tuxedo Park, New York
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A$3,865.75
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Bologna: Bartolomeo Borghi, 1747. First edition. Good. Octavo (19cm); viii, 314 pages (misnumbered in last gathering--a point of the first printing), and XVI full page engraved plates, along with several woodcut tables in text. In 18th-century two-tone woodblock decorated paper over boards. Paper label on spine worn and illegible. Spine darkened and faded. Endleaves renewed. Some spots and stains throughout. References: Honeyman 47 ("Contains arithmetical puzzles, tricks with cards and dice, problems relating to the theory of numbers, sleight of hand, etc." ); Riccardi I, 15 ("oltre i giuochi numerici contiene ancora dilettevoli giuochi di prestigio"); Caillet 1, #146 ("Ouvrage sur les nombres et sur les secrets et recettes, enrichi des figures gravées hors texte.") First edition of the first book on prestidigitation printed in Italy. The text is a handbook of dice and card games, mathematical riddles, sleight-of-hand, and magic, illustrated by 16 engraved plates and several tables. Among… Read More
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Nouvelles règles de la poule a deux billes. Rédigées d’après les avis des plus forts...
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Large engraved and folded broadsheet (585 x 468 mm) with a beautifull interior view of a billiard hall with a lavishly decorated billiard table with 6 male billiard players, ca 224 x 470 mm, in the upper half of the sheet, designed and engraved by Daniel, graveur du roi. Lower part of the sheet with text in 6 columns, centre fold marked by a billiard cue, adorned with four richly decorated medals in the corners of the text. - Bound with: Chéreau, Charles. Nouvelles règles du jeu de billard, ... Paris, chez l'auteur ca 1844. Large engraved and folded broadsheet ((585 x 468 mm) with an ornate calligraphic drop-title framed by emblematic vignettes, with rules of variant billiard games in six columns, centre fold marked by a billiard cue, and with two oval ornate medals in lower corners of the text. - Bound with: Chéreau, Charles. Nouvelles règles du jeu de billard, ... A Paris, chez l'auteur ca 1844. Large engraved and folded broadsheet ((585 x 468 mm) with an ornate calligraphic drop-title framed by… Read More
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A$3,357.00
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The Hippodrome
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The Hippodrome

by Hayward, Rachel

  • Used
  • good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Good
Edition
First American Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Salem, Oregon
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Hayward, Rachel The Hippodrome , 1913 George H. Doran Company, New York. American First Edition. Red boards with gilt titling and ornamentation. Gilt still fairly bright. EXLIB Good condition. / No DJ Included. Early noir detective novel set in Paris in the 1860's- 70's, and the Story of Arithelli, the beautiful English equestrienne. 295 PAGES. 5 1/8 X 7 ¾. 295 pages. QUITE RARE. We are pleased to consider offers.
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[Gambling game] Il nuovo e piacevole Giuoco del Pela il Chiù

[Gambling game] Il nuovo e piacevole Giuoco del Pela il Chiù

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Condition
Used
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Milan, Italy
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Silografia su carta (mm 134x207, margini inclusi). Woodcut on paper. Titolo del gioco al margine inferiore, le regole ai lati del margine superiore. Ottimo stato di conservazione.Foglio volante con una reimpressione ottocentesca della matrice lignea settecentesca originale, conservata presso la Galleria Estense di Modena (http://xilografiemodenesi.beniculturali.it/percorsi/giochi/). The Game of the Owl is a simple gambling game in which the players pay to or take stakes from a pool according to the throw of three normal (six-sided) dice. In Italy, the currently assumed country of origin, it is known by the name Pela il Chiù, meaning 'pluck the owl': the owl being regarded as proverbially stupid in that country, an element of cheating the unwary is perhaps implied. In other countries, the name is neutral: Le Jeu de la Chouette in France, Das Eulenspiel in Germany, Het Uilenbord (or Uilenspel) in the Netherlands. 'T' means 'tira' that is the instruction to take the number of 'quattrini' ("Q")… Read More
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