Author: Pratt, Peter
Biography:
PRATT, Peter (c. 1776-1836?: findmypast.com)
Pratt is an elusive, eccentric, but interesting figure, best described through his publications. His first book was a Theory of Chess (1799), a practical introduction to the game in which he proposed to change the names of some of the pieces--replacing Queen with Minister, Rooks with Peers, and Pawns with Commoners—to make a political point. This interest he followed up later with Studies of Chess (1803, included in this bibliography), an expanded edition of the classic work by Philidor to which he added notes and the poem “Caissa” by Sir William Jones, q.v. In 1810 he published his own translation of the Latin biography of Alexander the Great, with voluminous editorial material and maps (1810). In 1816 appeared his odd Elegy on the National Character, dedicated to “one of my oldest friends,” the sculptor James George Bubb (1781-1853). From 1817 to at least 1836 he was employed as a clerk by the East India Company, tasked with making compilations from its records on the China trade. An early product of that work was his authorised History of Japan (1822). Pratt like Bubb (the son of a shopkeeper) was a Londoner, possibly the son of Peter and Sarah Pratt baptised at St. George’s, Hanover Square, on 25 Feb. 1776. Nothing is known of his education but he does not appear to have attended university. It is not clear whether or not he married: there are a few possibilities. A man of this name who worked as a glass-seller in Bloomsbury was bankrupt in 1803. He might be the resident of Claremont Square, Islington, who was buried at St. Mary’s, Islington, on 21 Nov. 1836, aged 60. It is tempting to identify him with the man of this name who contributed a substantial £10 to benefit guardsmen who had been attacked by a mob in 1821, whose published comment in the subscription list was that he “would rather see men throwing at Cocks, than brutes pelting at men.” (findmypast.com 8 Nov. 2023; ancestry.com 8 Nov. 2023; MH 11 Sept. 1821; “J. G. Bubb,” Wikipedia 8 Nov. 2023)