It's back to the grind, but I'm still in vacation mode!
There's so much chess news to review and posts to catch-up on, but I said to heck with that after I spent a couple of hours chopping through the front lawn that had grown several inches from the last cut I did - that had to have been a week ago Wednesday or Thursday (the day a generator blew and the office lost power). Whew! Even though it's cool and overcast here today (thank Goddess!) it was a lot of work. I'm sure I gained 5 pounds in LV too, and I was huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf trying to blow down the houses of the Three Little Piggies. It's time for serious salad meals and 30 minute high intensity dance sessions to get back to where I was. Sigh.
Here are a few photos from the Palazzo, which is right next store to the Venetian. The hotels, casinos and shops of each are connected by a covered logia with "people movers" which shields visitors from the worst of the Las Vegas sun and gives fantastic views over that part of the Las Vegas Strip. There is a very large atrium that connects the Palazzo casino to the Palazzo shops, and it is spectacular. They are a little hard to see -- there are slender ribbons of water pouring from the ceiling all the way to the pool far below -- it's at least four stories tall although visitors can only advance to the second story. The opened umbrellas are strategically located and their handles intermittently glow with lazer light to a complicated rythym as the "rain" falls.
The first two photographs were taken from the second floor area overlooking the atrium toward the casino below. As you can guess, the ground floor area in front of the wall of water (third photograph) is a popular spot for photographs!
The Palazzo is the home of
Bauman Rare Books (three locations in the US) and Mr. Don and I made a point to visit -- first because we love books of all sorts and second, just to see what they had and what they were all about. On the day of our arrival I'd caught sight of the huge Palazzo electronic display on a side of the hotel as our shuttle was stopped at a red light enroute from the airport to our hotel - and an "ad" for Baumans popped up. It caught my attention and I mentioned it to Mr. Don but the light turned green and we sped away before the "ad" cycled round again, so he didn't see it. Somehow, rare books and Las Vegas don't go together -- so we wanted to find out more.
Our visit to Baumans was lovely! Not only are the staff well informed and helpful, they were not adverse to chatting away with up pleasantly for our entire visit, which lasted perhaps 40 minutes. Mr. Don disappeared with the Manager for awhile behind some door or other and was taken to a special library which he raved about later on over dinner, while I had an excellent conversation with a young lady who was very knowledgeable about a number of different books I looked at, including a limited edition three-volume set on British royalty and some books on Native Americans by 19th century ethnologists (no Culin, though).
Until we visited the Las Vegas location, I'd had no idea Bauman's existed! They have a site in Manhattan on Madison Avenue and we must have passed within a few blocks of its location several times during our May visit to that great city. The next time we visit New York we will make a point of visiting.
Alas, it didn't even occur to me to ask permission to take a few photos - I do not know if Mr. Don obtained any either - we were too busy chattering away and oohing and aahing over the various books offered for sale and engaging in refreshingly erudite conversations with informed persons! Goddess, I know that sounds awfully snobbish, but darlings, honestly, you have no idea what it's like out there sometimes, trying to carry on conversations with people who are more attuned to Yogi Berra than Yogi Maharishi (that's a joke). Alas, it is true - Mr. Don and I are horrid bores! Sometimes I bore myself! The Bauman staff were not at all off-put by our going on and on about chess history,collections, ancient board games and, in my case, a few rare stone-carved gameboards of North American Indians. Clever people - at the very least, clever enough to engage us in conversation about what we love best :)
LOL! Lovely people - a lovely store. If you're in Vegas and want to make a great investment if you hit it big on the Wheel of Fortune or the craps tables, consider buying a limited edition or rare book at Baumans. You will be treated like a Queen - or a King (and rare books retain their value very well, whatever the stock market and craps tables are doing).
A quick search at Baumans website under "chess" yielded these gems (not exhaustive list):
“ONE OF THE STANDARD OPENING BOOKS OF THE TIME”: CHESS-PLAYER’S MANUAL, 1902
GOSSIP, G.H.D. and LIPSCHÜTZ, S. The Chess-Player's Manual. Philadelphia:, 1902. Second revised edition of this compendium of chess openings, profusely illustrated with explanatory diagrams. $1600.
“THE FIRST ORIGINAL AMERICAN BOOK ON THE GAME OF CHESS”: THE ELEMENTS OF CHESS, 1805, IN ORIGINAL BOARDS
(PHILIDOR, François). Elements of Chess. Boston, 1805. First edition of the second chess book printed in the United States, the first written by an American, in original boards. $1500.
STUDIES OF CHESS, 1810, INCLUDING PHILIDOR’S LANDMARK ANALYSIS OF THE GAME OF CHESS, IN CONTEMPORARY BINDING
(PHILIDOR, A.S.) (PRATT, Peter). Studies of Chess. London, 1810. Two volumes. Second edition of this early 19th-century English anthology of chess writings. $950.
“THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOK ON THE MODERN GAME”
KENNY, W.S. Analysis of the Game of Chess. London, 1819. 1819 English translation of Philidor’s L’Analyze du jeu des échecs, with engraved frontispiece portrait of Philidor and illustrative chess diagrams, in original boards. $850.
RUSSIAN CHESS CHAMPION GARRY KASPAROV’S FIRST BOOK, SIGNED BY HIM
KASPAROV, Garry. Russian Test of Time. Baku, 1985. First edition of the Russian chess champion’s first book, a combination of game analysis and autobiography, signed by Kasparov in Cyrillic on the title page and dated 12/03/2006. $450.
CHESS CHAMPION GARRY KASPAROV’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SIGNED BY HIM
KASPAROV, Garry and TRELFORD, Donald. Unlimited Challenge. New York, 1990. First American edition of the Russian chess champion’s autobiography, signed by Kasparov on the title page and dated 04.02.2004. $350.
ANAND, Vishy and NUNN, John. My Best Games of Chess. London, 1998. First edition of the Indian chess master’s analysis of his games, inscribed on the title page: “All the best, V Anand, 8-7-05.” $250.
“IF YOU DO NOT MISS ANYTHING, YOU CAN ACHIEVE VERY GOOD RESULTS”
KRAMNIK, Vladimir and DAMSKY, Iakov. Kramnik: My Life and Games. London, 2003. Later edition, signed by Kramnik in Cyrillic on the title page. $200.
“VICTORY”: INSCRIBED BY VISHY ANAND
ANAND, Vishy and NUNN, John. My Best Games of Chess. London, 2001. Expanded “World Champion” edition of the Indian chess master’s analysis of his games, inscribed on the title page: “Victory, V Anand.” $200.
So, you see, Baumans offers books of interest to chessplayers, chessophiles and chess historians in every price range. Goddess, it's a good thing I didn't happen across any of these volumes during our visit to the Las Vegas location. I LOVE Vishy Anand!
It's back to the grind, but I'm still in vacation mode!
There's so much chess news to review and posts to catch-up on, but I said to heck with that after I spent a couple of hours chopping through the front lawn that had grown several inches from the last cut I did - that had to have been a week ago Wednesday or Thursday (the day a generator blew and the office lost power). Whew! Even though it's cool and overcast here today (thank Goddess!) it was a lot of work. I'm sure I gained 5 pounds in LV too, and I was huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf trying to blow down the houses of the Three Little Piggies. It's time for serious salad meals and 30 minute high intensity dance sessions to get back to where I was. Sigh.
Here are a few photos from the Palazzo, which is right next store to the Venetian. The hotels, casinos and shops of each are connected by a covered logia with "people movers" which shields visitors from the worst of the Las Vegas sun and gives fantastic views over that part of the Las Vegas Strip. There is a very large atrium that connects the Palazzo casino to the Palazzo shops, and it is spectacular. They are a little hard to see -- there are slender ribbons of water pouring from the ceiling all the way to the pool far below -- it's at least four stories tall although visitors can only advance to the second story. The opened umbrellas are strategically located and their handles intermittently glow with lazer light to a complicated rythym as the "rain" falls.
The first two photographs were taken from the second floor area overlooking the atrium toward the casino below. As you can guess, the ground floor area in front of the wall of water (third photograph) is a popular spot for photographs!
The Palazzo is the home of Bauman Rare Books (three locations in the US) and Mr. Don and I made a point to visit -- first because we love books of all sorts and second, just to see what they had and what they were all about. On the day of our arrival I'd caught sight of the huge Palazzo electronic display on a side of the hotel as our shuttle was stopped at a red light enroute from the airport to our hotel - and an "ad" for Baumans popped up. It caught my attention and I mentioned it to Mr. Don but the light turned green and we sped away before the "ad" cycled round again, so he didn't see it. Somehow, rare books and Las Vegas don't go together -- so we wanted to find out more.
Our visit to Baumans was lovely! Not only are the staff well informed and helpful, they were not adverse to chatting away with up pleasantly for our entire visit, which lasted perhaps 40 minutes. Mr. Don disappeared with the Manager for awhile behind some door or other and was taken to a special library which he raved about later on over dinner, while I had an excellent conversation with a young lady who was very knowledgeable about a number of different books I looked at, including a limited edition three-volume set on British royalty and some books on Native Americans by 19th century ethnologists (no Culin, though).
Until we visited the Las Vegas location, I'd had no idea Bauman's existed! They have a site in Manhattan on Madison Avenue and we must have passed within a few blocks of its location several times during our May visit to that great city. The next time we visit New York we will make a point of visiting.
Alas, it didn't even occur to me to ask permission to take a few photos - I do not know if Mr. Don obtained any either - we were too busy chattering away and oohing and aahing over the various books offered for sale and engaging in refreshingly erudite conversations with informed persons! Goddess, I know that sounds awfully snobbish, but darlings, honestly, you have no idea what it's like out there sometimes, trying to carry on conversations with people who are more attuned to Yogi Berra than Yogi Maharishi (that's a joke). Alas, it is true - Mr. Don and I are horrid bores! Sometimes I bore myself! The Bauman staff were not at all off-put by our going on and on about chess history,collections, ancient board games and, in my case, a few rare stone-carved gameboards of North American Indians. Clever people - at the very least, clever enough to engage us in conversation about what we love best :)
LOL! Lovely people - a lovely store. If you're in Vegas and want to make a great investment if you hit it big on the Wheel of Fortune or the craps tables, consider buying a limited edition or rare book at Baumans. You will be treated like a Queen - or a King (and rare books retain their value very well, whatever the stock market and craps tables are doing).
A quick search at Baumans website under "chess" yielded these gems (not exhaustive list):
“ONE OF THE STANDARD OPENING BOOKS OF THE TIME”: CHESS-PLAYER’S MANUAL, 1902
GOSSIP, G.H.D. and LIPSCHÜTZ, S. The Chess-Player's Manual. Philadelphia:, 1902. Second revised edition of this compendium of chess openings, profusely illustrated with explanatory diagrams. $1600.
“THE FIRST ORIGINAL AMERICAN BOOK ON THE GAME OF CHESS”: THE ELEMENTS OF CHESS, 1805, IN ORIGINAL BOARDS
(PHILIDOR, François). Elements of Chess. Boston, 1805. First edition of the second chess book printed in the United States, the first written by an American, in original boards. $1500.
STUDIES OF CHESS, 1810, INCLUDING PHILIDOR’S LANDMARK ANALYSIS OF THE GAME OF CHESS, IN CONTEMPORARY BINDING
(PHILIDOR, A.S.) (PRATT, Peter). Studies of Chess. London, 1810. Two volumes. Second edition of this early 19th-century English anthology of chess writings. $950.
“THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOK ON THE MODERN GAME”
KENNY, W.S. Analysis of the Game of Chess. London, 1819. 1819 English translation of Philidor’s L’Analyze du jeu des échecs, with engraved frontispiece portrait of Philidor and illustrative chess diagrams, in original boards. $850.
RUSSIAN CHESS CHAMPION GARRY KASPAROV’S FIRST BOOK, SIGNED BY HIM
KASPAROV, Garry. Russian Test of Time. Baku, 1985. First edition of the Russian chess champion’s first book, a combination of game analysis and autobiography, signed by Kasparov in Cyrillic on the title page and dated 12/03/2006. $450.
CHESS CHAMPION GARRY KASPAROV’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SIGNED BY HIM
KASPAROV, Garry and TRELFORD, Donald. Unlimited Challenge. New York, 1990. First American edition of the Russian chess champion’s autobiography, signed by Kasparov on the title page and dated 04.02.2004. $350.
ANAND, Vishy and NUNN, John. My Best Games of Chess. London, 1998. First edition of the Indian chess master’s analysis of his games, inscribed on the title page: “All the best, V Anand, 8-7-05.” $250.
“IF YOU DO NOT MISS ANYTHING, YOU CAN ACHIEVE VERY GOOD RESULTS”
KRAMNIK, Vladimir and DAMSKY, Iakov. Kramnik: My Life and Games. London, 2003. Later edition, signed by Kramnik in Cyrillic on the title page. $200.
“VICTORY”: INSCRIBED BY VISHY ANAND
ANAND, Vishy and NUNN, John. My Best Games of Chess. London, 2001. Expanded “World Champion” edition of the Indian chess master’s analysis of his games, inscribed on the title page: “Victory, V Anand.” $200.
So, you see, Baumans offers books of interest to chessplayers, chessophiles and chess historians in every price range. Goddess, it's a good thing I didn't happen across any of these volumes during our visit to the Las Vegas location. I LOVE Vishy Anand!
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