Edward Winter
A sketch of James A. Leonard (1841-62) was included in Kings, Commoners and Knaves, and C.N. 3020 mentioned that a second picture of him appeared (in minuscule form) in Chess Amateur page headings (e.g. on page 150 of the March 1914 issue):
Where can a better copy of this portrait be found?
It would seem to be part of a substantial series of pictures from an undetermined source. For instance, page 7 of the October, 1912 Chess Amateur showed Rev. C.E. Ranken wearing a mortarboard, while the following portrait of Howard Staunton was given on page 394 of the October 1911 issue:
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Owen Hindle (Cromer, England) reports that the Staunton photograph in C.N. 3451 appeared in the ‘Champions of British Chess’ illustration on page 173 of the October 1898 American Chess Magazine:
Our correspondent also points out that in a feature on page 183 of The Chess Players’ Quarterly Chronicle, 1870 H. Meyer announced:
‘We have in view the publication of a Photographic Chess-board, containing (arranged on the squares) the portraits of 64 English composers. The Carte will be similar to the American Chess-board lately introduced to the chess community by Mr Loyd. ... We may also add a few chessplayers (not known as composers), whose portraits we have ... so as to complete the required number. A subscriber of half a crown will be entitled to a proof copy of the Cartes as soon as they are issued.’
Finally, Mr Hindle sends us a copy of I.O. Howard Taylor’s chess column in the Eastern Daily Press of 2 December 1871, which stated, ‘Mr Henry Meyer, the well-known problematist and chess editor, has brought out a Photographic Chess Board’. The chess personalia listed in the column’s description correspond to those in the above illustration.
A standard-size copy of, for instance, the Staunton portrait remains to be found. As regards the picture of James Leonard in C.N. 3451, Mr Hindle suggests that it may have appeared in Loyd’s American photographic chessboard mentioned in the above extract from The Chess Players’ Quarterly Chronicle. Thus our next question is: can any reader provide a copy of that Loyd item?
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Samuel Loyd’s ‘photographic chessboard’ has now been found by John Hilbert (Amherst, NY, USA), who has kindly forwarded a copy:
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This composite photograph in our collection (see larger version) includes rare portraits of Berger, Gelbfuhs, Hamppe, Meitner and Trebitsch.
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From Fabrizio Zavatarelli (Milan, Italy):
‘The image in C.N. 3478 is not dated, but on page 8 of Wiener Salonblatt, 15 April 1876 it is mentioned as a production sold to several correspondents at 1 Gulden and 15 cents in Austrian currency. (An issue of the magazine cost 20 cents.) The chess column at that time was edited by Samuel Gold.’
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The Good Companion Two-Mover by G. Hume and A.C. White (Stroud, 1922) had two photographic chess boards, and we are grateful to the Cleveland Public Library for providing high-resolution scans:
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Copyright Edward Winter. All rights reserved.
