EDUCATIONAL

An original 1892 Paris edition of Nouveau Manuel Illustré du Jeu des Échecs, a classic 19th-century French chess handbook presenting the rules, principles, and strategic foundations of the game.

This illustrated manual provides a comprehensive study of chess theory, including opening classifications, model games, endgame techniques, and analytical studies. The work reflects the strong intellectual and pedagogical tradition of European chess literature of the late 19th century.

The book includes an historical introduction after Professor Duncan Forbes and contains numerous printed chess diagrams throughout, offering insight into period chess practice and teaching methods.

A desirable collectible for chess historians, collectors of early game manuals, and libraries of sporting or intellectual history.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Nouveau Manuel Illustré du Jeu des Échecs

• Author: J. A. de R.

• With introduction after: Duncan Forbes

• Publisher: Delarue, Libraire-Éditeur

• Place: Paris

• Year: 1892

• Printer: Charles Unsinger

• Language: French

• Pages: 139

• Size: approx. 15 × 21.5 cm

Features

• Original 19th-century edition (not a reprint)

• Numerous printed chess diagrams

• Historical introduction on chess

• Classification of openings and model games

• Endgame studies and analytical positions

• Original publisher’s cloth binding

Condition

Complete and sound copy.

• Original cloth binding with visible age wear and rubbing

• Minor wear to spine ends and boards

• Interior clean and fully legible

• No missing pages

• Diagrams clear throughout

Theoretical and Practical Pyrotechnics – Volume I: Explosive Substances
By Nikolaos P. Varvoglís, Major of the Greek Artillery and professor of Military Technology at the Hellenic Military Academy.

Published in Athens, 1899, this is an officially sanctioned and state-funded Greek Army manual, approved and issued by the Ministry of War. The work constitutes one of the foundational Greek military treatises on the chemistry, manufacture, handling, and storage of explosive substances at the end of the 19th century.

The volume includes 6 large folding technical plates, among them a highly detailed plan of the Sevran-Ivry state powder factory in France, one of the most important European gunpowder and explosives facilities of the period. Additional plates illustrate production layouts, safety zones, and industrial infrastructure related to explosives manufacture.

The copy offered retains its original folding plans, complete as issued.
Binding shows wear consistent with age and use; the volume would benefit from professional conservation, but remains complete and structurally intact.

Fair overall.Original half-leather binding (spine and corners in red leather with gilt tooling).The covers show visible wear, rubbing and surface soiling, consistent with age and military use. The spine shows rubbing, surface wear and minor losses, consistent with age and use.
Structurally stable, with the text block and folding plates intact.
The volume would benefit from professional rebinding.The interior is clean, with no annotations, no missing pages, and no repairs. Paper is well-preserved with mild age toning and occasional small foxing spots (normal for 19th-century Greek military printings).Important: The folding technical plates are present and well-preserved, with light handling folds but no tears.