Nathaniel Cooke was the English designer of a set of

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

figures called the

Staunton chess set The Staunton chess set is the standard style of chess piece, chess pieces, recommended for use in competition since 2022 by FIDE, the international chess governing body. The English journalist Nathaniel Cooke is credited with the design on the ...

which became the most commonly used chess set worldwide in chess tournaments.

Chess set

Cooke registered his design at the

United Kingdom Patent Office The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (often referred to as the UK IPO) is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK ...

on 1 March 1849 under the Ornamental Designs Act 1842. Cooke was the editor of ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'', the newspaper where

Howard Staunton Howard Staunton (April 1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-A ...

wrote a regular chess column. Cooke asked Staunton to advertise his chess set. Staunton did so in his column on 8 September 1849, and the set became famous under the name '' Staunton'' rather than ''Cooke''.

Other businesses

In addition, Cooke was an ambitious London-based publisher who, as Ingram, Cooke & Co., produced many volumes of history, travel guides, and other works. Ingram and Cooke were the proprietors of the mid-Victorian ''National Illustrated Library'' that failed in 1854 due to carrying an excess amount of titles: :When the ''National Illustrated Library'' was started, all were pleased and surprised at the appearance and price of the volumes, and it is certain that they would have paid; but a fatal error was made, almost at once, in commencing the publishing of other libraries at the same office, and in the purchasing at high prices old plates for republication; so many series came from the publisher ... that their advertisements were confusion worse confounded, and everybody was lost in the maze. The proprietor has now given up the business, not without a very serious loss.

Family tragedy

Herbert Ingram Herbert Ingram (27 May 1811 – 8 September 1860) was a British journalist and politician. He is considered the father of pictorial journalism through his founding of ''The Illustrated London News'', the first illustrated magazine. He was a ...

, Cooke's brother-in-law and publishing house partner, was the co-founder of ''

''. Herbert Ingram died in a maritime accident while travelling in the United States with his son. His steamer, the '' Lady Elgin'', sank in

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

when another passenger steamer, the ''Augusta'', crashed into the ''Lady Elgin''. NathanielCooke

Of the ''Lady Elgins 400 passengers, only 100 survived. The accident occurred near Winetka, Illinois, during an early September storm.

Spelling

Cooke's name was misspelled as "Cook" on the 1849 patent and the misspelling has propagated in chess literature since then. The correct spelling can be found in numerous documents, including his business listings in the London Directories (''see top picture, right'') as well as official announcements of the marriage of his daughter Harriet Ingram Cooke, to John Jaques II, son of John Jaques, the owner of the company that first manufactured the Staunton pieces in 1849 (''see bottom picture, right'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Nathaniel History of chess Chess people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown