The Game of Chess

An Inquiry into the Ancient Greek Game supposed to have been invented by Palamedes, Antecedent to the Siege of Troy
By James Christie
1801
First Edition.
Printed for private circulation.
Limited to 40 copies.

An Inquiry into the Antient Greek Game, Supposed to Have Been Invented by Palamedes is a 1801 scholarly work proposing that the Greek game of petteia (supposedly invented by Palamedes during the Trojan War) is the ancestor of chess, having originated in China and spread through India and Persia. It suggests a connection between the game's origins and early cosmological symbols.

225mm x 280mm x 20mm

R25,000

Gemini has this to say:

Bibliographical records for James Christie’s 1801 treatise, An Inquiry into the Ancient Greek Game, are famously conflicting, leading to a long-standing debate among book collectors and chess historians.

The Traditionally Cited Number: 40 Copies

For over a century, the standard answer provided by booksellers and auction houses has been that only 40 copies were printed.

Origin: This figure was first popularized by William Lowndes in his 1834 edition of The Bibliographer's Manual of English Literature.

Persistence: The "40 copies" claim was repeated in various 19th-century bibliographies (such as those by George Walker and Anton Schmid), cementation its status as a "fact" in the rare book world.

The Contemporary Dispute

Modern research suggests that the "40 copies" claim is likely an underestimate.

Survival Rates: Bibliographers have pointed out that for a book printed in such a small quantity over 220 years ago, an unusually high number of copies have survived. WorldCat and institutional databases currently locate roughly 30 to 40 copies in public libraries alone.

Private Holdings: When factoring in known copies in major private collections (some collectors own multiple copies), the total number of extant books likely meets or exceeds the "limit" of 40.

Revised Estimates: Experts now believe the actual print run was likely closer to 100 copies—still a very limited run intended for private circulation among Christie’s circle and fellow antiquarians, but not quite as minuscule as Lowndes originally claimed.