Stefan Zweig | Schachnovelle, Buenos Aires, 1942, first edition, copy number 49 of 250

Stefan Zweig

Schachnovelle. Buenos Aires: Verlag Pigmalión, 1942.

FIRST EDITION, COPY NUMBER 49 OF 250 LIMITED COPIES on Offset C paper, 8vo (195 x 129 mm), original boards, retaining glassine wrappers, slight splitting between gatherings, occasional very light marginal spotting, wrappers nicked, chipped at corners and spine ends, extremities frayed

One of Stefan Zweig's best-known novellas, Schachnovelle was written in 1941, combining themes of chess and psychology, whilst taking inspiration from the game between Alekhine and Bogoljubow in Pistyan, 1922.

Schachnovelle was Zweig's last publication; the manuscript was submitted to his Argentinian publishers only a few hours before suicide in 1942. The standard edition comprised 250 limited copies (of which the present copy is number 49), published by Pigmalión. The deluxe edition, bound in linen and published by Janos Peter Kramer, had a total print run of 300 copies (see next lot).