Background
Edmond Hoyle was born about 1672 in England. Almost nothing is known of Hoyle's life before 1741. Much of books is written about him is untrue or exaggerated.
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Edmond Hoyle was born about 1672 in England. Almost nothing is known of Hoyle's life before 1741. Much of books is written about him is untrue or exaggerated.
By 1741, Hoyle began to tutor members of high society at the game of whist, selling his students a copy of his manuscript notes. Hoyle expanded the manuscript and published A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist in 1742, selling it for the high price of one guinea. When the book quickly sold out, rather than publish a new edition, Hoyle sold the rights to Whist to bookseller Francis Cogan for 100 guineas, an enormous sum for a small pamphlet.
Before Cogan was able to publish a second edition, two printers pirated the work, giving the author as "A Gentleman" rather than Hoyle. The printers disguised their identities by publishing under false names, one as Webster, the other as Webb. Cogan published second and third editions of Whist and two months later, obtained an injunction against the pirates which he announced in a fourth edition (all 1743). To distinguish the genuine editions from the piracies, Cogan paid Hoyle twopence per copy to autograph the genuine works. Ironically, the piracies were profitable to Hoyle, though a disaster for Cogan who was forced to lower the price of the book to match the pirates and to pay for Hoyle's signature. Hoyle died in London on August 29, 1769.
