Amounting to Very Little...

I have treated the entry of the Jerome Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Bxc7+) into the pages of the opening "encyclopedias" of its day (see "Jerome Gambit: Early Opening Tomes" Part 1 and Part 2) as a good thing. Certainly, the exposure of the gambit to a greater number of chess players was a positive turn.

Was the opening, however, refined as it passed from one analytical session to the other? Were the best defenses identified and polished? Were White's chances, as thin as they are, clearly identified?

In a word, "no."

Newer books largely copied what was in the older books and passed it along. Critical analysis was almost nonexistent.

True, some authors vied with each other for different ways to say "this opening is no good, but Black must stay awake and do his best or he could embarass himself", but that was about as forward as chess knowledge marched, at least concerning the Jerome Gambit...

I will return to these opening works, but for now, Dear Readers, a break from all this seriousness.