Hoyle's Games
The name Edmond Hoyle will forever be associated with games. Although he was mostly known for his expertise on card games the phrase according to Hoyle has entered the English language with reference to any game or sport. To invoke Hoyle's name in any field of gaming is to claim authority.
Edmond Hoyle (also known as Edmund) was born in 1671 and died an 1761, a very long life for the period. Almost nothing is known about his life before 1741, it's not even certain where he was born. Most people seem to think he was born in London, however some have suggested that he was from Yorkshire. It's generally agreed that he probably trained as a barrister - the legal profession would have provide an ideal background for his work on formally codifying game rules.
By 1741 Hoyle is known to have been living in Queen Square in London. He was working part time as a whist tutor.
Hoyle's fame began with the publication in 1742 of his classic book A Short Treatise on the Rules of Whist. The book was available to buy for one guinea and - despite a large number of pirate copies in circulation - sold well. Fifteen editions (all now rare and much sought after by collectors) were published during Hoyle's lifetime. Further editions continued to be published after his death.
The Short Treatise... went on to become one of the best selling books of the 18th century. It remained the accepted authority on the standard rules of whist until 1864.
Following the success of this first book, Hoyle went on to publish other studies on other card games such as piquet, brag and the then fashionable quadrille as well as works on board games such as backgammon and chess.
1748 saw the publication of the first true Hoyle compendium, Hoyle's Standard Games and it is for such compendia that he is best known today.
Today you can still buy books - and software such as that from Sierra - bearing the Hoyle name, a tribute to the lasting impression he has made on the gaming community.