Antonius van der Linde

It was another slow fortnight for Top eBay Chess Items by Price. I had to dip well under my normal cutoff of $500 to discover the item titled '1881 Das Erste Jartausend [sic] Der Schachlitteratur Van der Linde Munich Chess Club' ['the first millennium of chess literature - Van der Linde - Munich Chess Club']. It sold for US $418.00 after 15 bids from six bidders.

The item itself wasn't terribly attractive, so the image above shows the accompanying bookplate ('ex libris') from the Munich Chess Club. The description added,

Das Erste Jartausend Der Schachlitteratur (850-1880) Zusammengestellt von Dr. A.V.D. Linde. Published by Julius Springer, Berlin – 1881. Measures 5" x 7 3/4". 112pp.

Once owned by the Munich Chess Club (Schach-Club-Althmunchen) and carries the club's original book plate on the inner front cover as well as the club name stamp on the title page and last page. Half-leather with gilt spine lettering and likely rebound many years ago (no other copies available to compare).

Has a previous owner name and personal library cataloging numbers on the top right corner of the title page and the #40 neatly written on the top right corner of the blank front endpaper. There are two stamps affixed to the front cover. Otherwise Very Good condition with tight binding – covers and pages otherwise very clean – no other writing, markings, soiling, odors, torn or folded pages, etc.

An enduring and rare work by Prof. Dr. Antonius Van der Linde, who remains one of the most preeminent chess historians in history.

For more about van der Linde, see the German Wikipedia entry Antonius van der Linde. His name is associated with the chess collection at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek ('The KB is the national library of the Netherlands'), Chess and draughts collection:

History: The chess collection is based on the collections of Antonius van der Linde, Meindert Niemeijer and G.L. Gortmans. Size: The chess and draughts collection consists of ca. 30.000 titles.

Also from the KB: Antonius van der Linde.