Gino Di Felice, author of the monumental nine volume series on tournaments and match results from 1747 to 1960, is back yet again with another massive work. This one, CHESS PERIODICALS: An Annotated Bibliography, 1836 - 2008 is a groundbreaker. The first volume to deal exclusively with chess periodicals, it draws heavily upon the online catalogues of many libraries, most prominently the John G. White collection in Cleveland and the The Royal Dutch Library in the Hague. The author does not confine himself to periodicals (2861 listings!) but also attempts to include all almanacs, yearbooks and similar such works (about 300 in all).
This much-needed work will find at least two receptive audiences. The first will be those interested in chess history who need to know what materials may be available. The second group that will want this book are collectors who need to know what they have and what they are missing. Both will find CHESS PERIODICALS an invaluable tool.
De Felice has done an outstanding pioneering effort. The reader will find listings for lesser-known periodicals like American regional magazines such as Northwest Chess alongside such heavyweights as the British Chess Magazine. A list of the sources consulted include not only national libraries but also specialist sites like Chess Dryad (www.chessdryad.com) devoted solely to California periodicals.
Invariably in a work of this kind there will be errors and incompleteness, and CHESS PERIODICALS has its share, but for a first stab in the wilderness this is a very impressive effort.
As usual for McFarland the production values for this work are first rate with excellent paper and a sturdy binding that allows the book to stay open at any page despite the size of the volume.
