Josef Cumpe: Verny Cech

Two versions of a rare book from the series Sachove umeni

(known as Czech Christmas series)

First published:    1 January 2021

Last update:         1 January 2021

The book Verny Cech was published as the 11th volume of the series Sachove umeni, published in 1936-1947 by Miroslav Soukup in Prague. The book was published in two versions that differ in problem number 25.

Here is a description of both versions:

Cumpe, Josef: Verny Cech.

Praha, Miroslav Soukup, 1943. Original hard covers. Frontispiece (4-mover in diagram), title, (72) pages. Problem number 25 is a three-mover taken from Zlata Praha 1916 with a note in Czech. Published 45 numbered copies, probably with numbers 16-60. (Series Sachove umeni, volume 11. Contains 100 problems of Josef Cumpe, almost all are three-movers. The book is in Czech, but some notes on the problems are in English or German). Soukup 25,  Mokry 87, LN (2861).

Cumpe, Josef: Verny Cech.

The same book as the previous one, but under the number 25 there is a three-mover taken from Natal Mercury 1916 with a note in English. Published 15 numbered copies, probably with numbers 1-15. Soukup 25a, Mokry 88, LN 2861 (the copy in the Hague Library under number 2861 has not been checked; it has the number 13, so it is probably one of 15 copies).

The title of the book means The Faithful Czech or The Faithful Bohemian, which refers not to the author's nationality but to the fact that Cumpe composed his problems according to the rules of the Bohemian chess problem school.

The reason why the book was published in two versions is unknown. Miroslav Soukup in his bibliography (Soupis ceskoslovenskeho sachoveho pisemnictvi, Praha 1947) lists the version with 45 copies under number 25 and the version with 15 copies under number 25a, but does not state which numbers were assigned to which version (see picture at the end).

Over the years, I had the opportunity to check 5 copies of the book, which had as number 25 a three-mover from Zlata Praha 1916. It is therefore very likely that in the case of 45 copies, these are the books where the problem is from Zlata Praha. These five copies had the numbers 19, 22, 30, 41 and one higher number, which I do not remember. From this I deduce that the copies with the problem 25 from Zlata Praha had the numbers 16-60.

I also had the opportunity to check 2 copies with a three-mover from Natal Mercury 1916. These are copies with numbers 5 and 8. From this it can be concluded that the version published in 15 copies has the numbers 1-15.

Below are pictures of copy number 41 (always left) and copy number 8 (right).

Fig.1: problem number 25 from Golden Prague 1916 (left) and from Natal Mercury 1916 (right).

          

Fig.2: Impressum page, where the numbers are written by hand. Left number 41 (one of 45 copies), right number 8 (one of 15 copies). Miroslav Soukup apparently signed the book on the right on request, he did not normally sign other copies.

          

Fig.3-4: there are no other differences between the two versions. Here are the front covers of both versions and title pages:

          

          

Fig.5: front cover of Soukup's bibliography from 1947 and detail of page 9, where both versions of Cumpe's book Verny Cech are described: