Talk:Ely Culbertson

Way to go...
Ely has been improved recently, but there's still a long way to go. Here are some of the topics that need to be added or expanded:
 * 1. The stories in his autobiography of his pre-bridge life.
 * 2. His revolutionary bidding ideas.
 * 3. His bridge books.
 * 4. Matches v. and Sims and Austria.
 * 5. The Bridge World and Kem cards.
 * 6. His divorce from Josephine
 * 7. His peace ideas.
 * 8. Assessment of his worth in these various fields.
 * 9. Photos, and more photos...

It's interesting, isn't it, that in all these years since the thirties no-one has come anywhere close to him as a publicist for the game. Anyway, there is no-one in bridge history who offers so much material for the budding biographer. Good sources are:

1. Ely's autobiography: The strange lives of one man. 2. John Clay: Culbertson: the man who made contract bridge. 3. David Daniels: The golden age of contract bridge.

Macdonald-ross (talk) 12:04, 9 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I just chanced on Time magazine's review of his autobiography, published back in 1940. It probably has some stuff that we could use. JH (talk page) 20:07, 28 September 2011 (UTC)

Josephine Culbertson
Josephine Culbertson is identified at VIAF but not by the Library of Congress (no LCCN), hence not at WorldCat (no auto-generated homepage, as we link in the footer of most English-language writer biographies).

Direct LC search (now 20 hits, including 4 "from old catalog")
 * LCCat search

That hit count is so great, and she is so famous; there must be some mistake, either mine or LC's. ... I find their Josephine Murphy but she's a current or recent sculptor, ; their Josephine C. Murphy is Cross, died 1853; their Mrs. Culbertson is 1825-1893.

All 20 hits are works by our Josephine Culbertson. The default order is first by first-listed author; the first 10 plus 3 "from old catalog" are joint works with Ely Culbertson (and sometimes others).

--P64 (talk) 17:53, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
 * WorldCat search
 * Recently I added to the footer WorldCat search: Culbertson, Josephine. There are now 76 hits of which the first 69 evidently concern a Josephine Culbertson. They include numerous translations of bridge books by J or E&J Culbertson.
 * There is a cartoonist J.C., if i understand correctly.
 * At a glance I think the other 68 records are about 60 for our J.C. and 8 for Josephine Mary Culbertson (1852-1939), a California artist.
 * --P64 (talk) 18:14, 28 May 2014 (UTC)


 * We have the stub Josephine Culbertson for two months. VIAF has added that page inadequately, needs merge with 36273263 noted above. She remains unidentified by LC (no LCCN). --P64 (talk) 19:25, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

Trying to transfer cite from lede
I was trying to transfer a citation from the lede to its appropriate place in the main text, but got an alert that this was a featured article that should not be altered. For one thing, I have sometimes altered featured articles before (mindful that they merit special care). But in any case, I thought they were meant to carry a star at the top-right section, beside the title. There is no indication that this one is a featured article. Valetude (talk) 16:18, 5 August 2015 (UTC)
 * Weird. As you can see from the banners at the top of this Talk page, it's only rated Start class by the Biography Wikiproject and C class by the Bridge Wikiproject, so is clearly not a featured article. JH (talk page) 17:08, 5 August 2015 (UTC)

First timer on here -- Rod.Bias-sat-Cutlip.Org -- totally lost. You are invited to tell me proper protocol.
I was reading where your article mentioned the Culbertson divorce in 1938. I didn't double check that but it jibes with my memory. You then mention the 64-page booklet, "Culbertson ... ten minutes." I have a copy right here in my hands -- yes! nutty people do read that those antique books! They even notice that to get 64 pages, one must count the front cover as 1&2 and the back cover as 63&64. Otherwise, the content runs from page 3 to 60 (61&62 are blank). It has a green dust jacket and the card-stock covers are yellow. The dj and cover (front, back, and spine) carry the title "Culbertson's Contract in Ten Minutes" six times total, along with Faber & Faber, the publisher. In large letters, Josephine Culbertson is listed as the ONLY author. Pages 3 and 5 add a word to the title "Culbertson's Contract Bridge in Ten Minutes." Page 5 adds "by Josephine Culbertson." Page six says:

FIRST PUBLISHED IN NOVEMBER MCMXXXVII BY FABER AND FABER LIMITED 24 RUSSELL SQUARE LONDON W.C.I SECOND IMPRESSION APRIL MCMXXXIX THIRD IMPRESSION MARCH MCMXL FOURTH IMPRESSION OCTOBER MCMXLI FIFTH IMPRESSION APRIL MCMXLIII SIXTH IMPRESSION JANUARY MCMXIV SEVENTH IMPRESSION OCTOBER MCMXLIV EIGHTH IMPRESSION AUGUST MCMXLV NINTH IMPRESSION DECEMBER MCMXLV

My two years of Latin was decades ago, BUT I'm pretty sure this says I'm holding a ninth printing made in 1945. The first edition/printing was in 1937. This edition carries no mention of E..LEE 98.179.103.62 (talk) 08:17, 10 June 2024 (UTC)