Keeble, John. Vive la beauté.

Being the tinted edition of a problematic work called The Caduceus. Norwich, Norwich Mercury Company, November 1910. 

With 105 diagrams. XIII, 1 leaf, 129 pages. "This is an exact replica of the 129p - edition of 'The caduceus', with a new title page, and printed on pink paper. Its existence was kept a secret until after Keeble's death in 1939. Copies are numbered 1A to 10A. With a handwritten dedication by the author on the flyleaf to A. White.

Under the title "The caduceus" (= herald's staff), Keeble published 100 self-mate problems from the 'Norwich Mercury inverse-mate tourney' of 1908 - 1910 and 5 compositions that were created especially for this work. The total of 105 problems contains 39 two-move, 35 three-move and 31 four-move mates. Pages 125 - 129 contains the comments from the directors.

There is a four-page letter from Keeble to White which reads as follows:

    "Very pleased to hear from you.  Yours of 4oo received yesterday.  This morning I received from the Binder the copies of Vive la Beaute and I am mailing 2 lots to you tonight ... One parcel contains 2 specially bound copies in which I have written your name.  I am keeping 2 exactly similar.  I have also had 4 sets bound up in cloth and in order that you may see what they are like I am also sending a set of those, thinking perhaps you would like Mr. J.G. White to have them.  I told you I would reserve 3 copies of each in sheets besides the calf bound ones which I send tonight. ... I am numbering the title page of each book.  No 1.A to 10.A the Pink ones; No 1.B to 10.B the Lemon.  I shall keep the British Museum set back until I can insert the original owners of the 20 books ... I have sent you No.1 and I am keeping No.2 set.

    I am collecting a few notes about Caduceus, its meaning and use of the word.  In 1591 Spencer wrote "He tooke Caduceus his snakie wand, with which the damned ghosts he governeth."  In 1606, Shakespeare was more polite when he said:  "Mercury loose all the serpentine craft of thy Caduceus."  In 1668 the London Gazette had it in the plural:  “The heralds in the coats of Arms and Caducei in their hands. The real meaning of the word seems to be a Herald or messenger and this is very appropriate to the book."  Linde - N. 2604; Betts 40 - 10.

Condition: VG. From David DeLucia's Chess Library. Very Rare.

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