The thirteenth-century Dominican Jacobus de Cessolis turned the chessboard into a mirror of medieval society, each piece standing for a rank from king and queen to the pawns of craftsmen and labourers, with tales of Alexander and Caesar to teach their duties. This is a verbatim reprint of William Caxton’s 1474 English version, edited by William Axon.
Among the earliest books printed in English, a treasure for lovers of chess, Caxton and medieval prose. Download the free EPUB.