I am often asked about the history and origins of our mechanical puzzles, so I decided to gather a list of free books that explore the history of mechanical puzzles when they were invented and by whom. These are a great way to learn more and dive deeper into the mechanical puzzle world. Most of these books also explain how to make and solve puzzles, they are a very useful and fun guide if you want to try building your own puzzle collection. I will keep adding more books to this post in the future so please check back again. Note: All rights are reserved by the authors/publishers.
Puzzles Old And New - By Professor Hoffmann (pen name for Angelo John Lewis).
Published by Frederick Warne and Co. London & NY 1893.
One of the oldest books about mechanical puzzles, you can find a description of mechanical puzzles includes solutions from Victorian era plus many excellent new and classical puzzle posers.
Professor Louis Hoffmann - The first author to write about the history of mechanical puzzles.
You can read or download the book by clicking on the book cover below:
Compendium of Mechanical Puzzles from Catalogs - By Jerry Slocum (1977)
The book shows a variety of antique and modern mechanical puzzles from catalogs (1785 to 1946), including Put Together Puzzles, Take-Apart Puzzles, Interlocking Puzzles, Disentanglement Puzzles, Sequential Movement Puzzles, and Dexterity Puzzles.
Jerry Slocum - The world's largest puzzle collector and author of many mechanical puzzles books. Founder of the Slocum Puzzle Foundation and the International Puzzle Party (IPP).
You can read or download the book by clicking on the book cover below:
The Anchor Puzzle Book - By Jerry Slocum with Dieter Gebhardt, Jack Botermans, Harold Raizer, & Dic Sonneveld (2012)
The Anchor Puzzle Book presents over 5,000 diagrams of all the Richter puzzles (2D put-together puzzles like Tangrams) their problem silhouettes, their pictures, and their solutions.
You can read or download the book by clicking on the book cover below:
Early Japanese Export Puzzles - Another great read by Jerry Slocum and Rik van Grol. In D. Wolfe & T. Rodgers, (2002), Puzzlers' Tribute: A Feast for the Mind. Natick, MA: A.K. Peters.
The Early Japanese Export Puzzles gives a brief history of Japanese puzzle boxes and Japanese wooden interlocking puzzles called "Kumiki".
You can read or download the book by clicking on the book cover below:
Puzzle Craft - By Stewart T. Coffin (1985)
The book shows a variety of antique and modern mechanical puzzles including Geometrical Puzzles, Burrs Puzzles, Polyhedral Puzzles, and 80 original puzzles designs. You will also find woodworking techniques which can be a great help for beginners.
Stewart T. Coffin - Probably the world's best designer of polyhedral interlocking puzzles.
You can read or download the book by clicking on the book cover below:
AP-ART - A Compendium Of Puzzle Designs - By Stewart T. Coffin (2018)
A complete compendium and history of mechanical puzzles designed by Stewart Coffin. It contains more than 400 photographs and drawings. Also, included are listings of the instructions, descriptions and some of Stewart bio.
You can read or download the book by clicking on the book cover below:
