Granted it is a little bit dated (reprint of a book written by Howard Staunton (yes...THE Howard Staunton)) published first in 1847 I believe.

I wanted to get the original (The guy had an authentic original on the shelf) but its a very rare book and he wanted over $500 for that one. So the reprint was much more affordable. I can pass on the original for now.

It's called the Chess Player's Handbook. In it is a wealth of information on the things you should be doing and the things you shouldn't be doing at the chessboard, Openings, Gambits, and a huge section on endings. I am sure a lot of these in here are still in use today and the methods are still applicable today (especially the endings). I absolutely love this book. I can tell already that its a gem in my growing chess library.

You should have seen the original he had though. There was part of the index that was handwritten---in fancy lettering (Old English maybe?). The index part that was handwritten was just amazing to see. If I had had a few hundred bucks to spare I would have tried to bargain with him and see if he would have cut me a deal on it. What was cool about it also was that I was holding a book written before the civil war began, by someone who was born 199 years ago.

That sounds amazing.  Old books are always a treasure.

On a side note, it likely wasn't old english.  Old english is more like german than anything.

You should have seen it. I love old books. And chess strategy is timeless and as applicable now as it was then with some exceptions, but overall still timeless!