Puzzles Old And New
by Professor Hoffmann
pen name for Reverend Angelo John Lewis

(Frederick Warne and Co. London & NY 1893;
7.3 inches by 5.4 inches, hard cover first editions, each 394 pages (scan 1) (scan 2),
some with up to four pages of adds at the end)

The grandfather of puzzle books. It was published in at least the cover colors teal, red, brown, blue, and green, with two different cover styles (the teal and the first of the two reds above are cover style 1, and the others are cover style 2). The books all have identical pages, except that cover style 1 has no date on the title page (although the teal copy above has the inside back binding page signed "M. D. April 24, 1893"), and there are varying numbers of pages of adds at the end. All of the books above, except the teal, have the same light brown patterned end paper inside the covers; the teal has a light green end paper of a different pattern (although the teal version was also made with the same end paper as the others).

The teal and red versions in cover style 1 above both have two pages (one double sided sheet) of adds for magic and puzzles at the end. The red version in cover style 2 above has date 1893 on the title page, and has two pages of adds at the end for conjuring and ventriloquial items. The blue above is like the red except that at the end, preceding the same two pages of adds are two additional pages of adds for other books. The brown and green versions above are just like the red and blue but with no adds at the end.

Each chapter includes solutions. It is interesting to see the variety of puzzles known at this time; Eight Peg ("Four and Four"), the Fifteen Puzzle ("Boss Puzzle"), Cross Keys, 6-Piece Burr ("The Nut"), Chinese Rings ("Cardan's Rings"), Tangram ("Anchor Puzzle"), etc.

The teal book shown on the first page uses the green end paper shown below, and all the others use the brown paper shown below. The teal version was also made with the brown end paper (in fact, the book with brown paper shown below is a different copy of the teal version).

(From the 1893 second cover version.)

(copyright Frederick Warne and Co. London & NY 1893;
this edition L. E. Hordern and Martin Breese Limited 1988;
7.3 inches by 5.4 inches, hard cover, 394 pages,
each with 2 pages of adds for puzzles at the end;
these adds are the same as the teal first edition shown above)

This 1988 edition has a preface by L. E. Hordern that discusses the books history and gives the authors real name; here is some of what is said on the back of the jacket: "He was able to combine this with a wealth of accurate drawings, from which it must be assumed that he either possessed or had access to the puzzles he was describing. For some 80 years or more (until the advent of modern printing techniques), his book stood alone, head and shoulders above the rest."


(copyright Frederick Warne and Co. London & NY 1893;
this edition Sterling Publishers New Delhi 1997,
7 by 4.75 inches, soft cover, 394 pages,
each with 2 pages of adds for puzzles at the end;
with two contemporary adds at the end for reprints of Hoffmann magic books)

Further reading:
Knuth's index to Hoffmann's book, from: http://sunburn.stanford.edu/~knuth/hoffmann.txt
Puzzle Museum, from: http://puzzlemuseum.com/library/hoffm/hoff-bk.htm