Nathaniel Cooke

Nathaniel Cooke was the designer of a set of chess figures which is now the standard set.
Chess set.
Cooke registered his design at the United Kingdom Patent Office on 1 March 1849 under the Ornamental Designs Act of 1842. Cooke was the editor of "The Illustrated London News", the newspaper where Howard Staunton wrote a regular chess column. Cooke asked Staunton to advertise his chess set. Staunton did so in his column on 8 September 1849, and the set became famous under the name "Staunton" rather than "Cooke".
Other businesses.
In addition, Cooke was an ambitious London-based publisher who, as Ingram, Cooke & Co., produced many volumes of history, travel guides, and other works. Ingram and Cooke were the proprietors of the mid-Victorian "National Illustrated Library" that failed in 1854 due to carrying an excess amount of titles:
Family tragedy.
Herbert Ingram, Cooke's brother-in-law and publishing house partner, was the co-founder of "The Illustrated London News". Herbert Ingram died in a maritime accident while traveling in the United States with his son. His steamer, the "Lady Elgin", sank in Lake Superior when another passenger steamer, the "Augusta", crashed into the "Lady Elgin".
Of the "Lady Elgin"'s 400 passengers, only 100 survived. The accident occurred near Winetka, Wisconsin, during an early September storm.
Spelling.
Cooke's name was misspelled as "Cook" on the 1849 patent and the misspelling has propagated in chess literature since then. The correct spelling can be found in numerous documents, including his business listings in the London Directories ("see top picture, right") as well as official announcements of the marriage of his daughter Harriet Ingram Cooke, to John Jaques II, son of John Jaques, the owner of the company that first manufactured the Staunton pieces in 1849 ("see bottom picture, right").