Edmond Hoyle

Edmond Hoyle (1672 – 29 August 1769) was an English writer best known for his works on the rules and play of card games. The phrase "according to Hoyle" (meaning "strictly according to the rules") came into the language as a reflection of his broadly perceived authority on the subject; use of the phrase has since expanded to any appeal to a putative authority.

Life

Little is known about Hoyle's early life prior to publication of his books. Much of what is written about him is untrue or exaggerated. The suggestion that he trained at the bar is not known to be true, but some things say otherwise.

Hoyle died at the age of 97 on 29 August 1769 on Wellbank Street (today Welbeck Street), Cavendish Square, London.

Treatise on Whist

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 it 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 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 two pence per copy to autograph the genuine works. 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.