Game and Playe of the Chesse - Caxton
CAXTON'S
GAME AND PLAYE OF THE CHESSE.
1474.
A VERBATIM REPRINT OF THE FIRST EDITION.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
WILLIAM E.A. AXON, M.R.S.L.
"And ther was founde by clerkes full prudent Of the chesse the play most
glorious."
JOHN LYDGATE.
LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK,
62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.
1883.
[Transcribers Note: This is a reprint of Caxton's 1474 original.
"Englifh" long s's which look very similar to f's have been transposed
to s's for readability; yogh (looks like a mutated 3) has been rendered
as a 3; thorn, , has been left as such and macrons over letters are
given as e.g. [=o]. Otherwise the text has been left as is.
The original punctutation has been preseved. Virgula suspensiva, shown
here as / was in common use from the thirteenth to the seventeenth
century. Often used for short pauses (such as the caesura in the middle
of a line of poetry), but sometimes was used as equivalent to the
punctus. "'9" represents a superscripted 9 and is an ancestor to the
modern apostrophe. It usually indicates the omission of a terminal -us.
A small amount of text in this edition is in Blackletter, which was used
in the Caxton original, and these sections have been marked up as such.
The book contains many attractive illustrations copied from the Caxton
original and an HTML version exists to give a better representation
of this.]
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
Jonathon Oldbuck on the Game of Chess, 1474
The First Edition: copies in libraries and at sales
Where was it printed?
Caxton's account of the translation
The Second Edition: copies in libraries and at sales
Ferron and De Vignay's "Jeu d'Echecs"
Jacques de Cessoles: "Liber de Moribus hominum"
Sermons on Chess
AEgidius Romanus, his life and his book: "De Regimine Principum"
Occleve's imitation
William Caxton as a translator
Bibliography of the Chess Book:
Colonna
Cessoles
Ferron and De Vignay
Conrad van Ammenhaufen
Mennel
Heinrich von Beringen
Stephan
Caxton
Sloane
The scope and language of the Chess-book
Authors quoted and named
Biblical names and allusions
Xerxes the inventor of Chess!
Sidrac
John the monk
Truphes of the Philosophers
Helinand
Classical allusions
Mediaeval allusions and stories
John of Ganazath
St. Bernard
The dishonest trader
The drunken hermit
A violent remedy
Murder of Nero
Theodorus Cyrenaicus
Democritus of Abdera
Socrates disguised
Didymus and raised letters for the blind
Shaksperean etymology
Caxton at Ghent
The history of Chess
The ethical aim of the writer of the Chess-book
THE GAME OF THE CHESSE.
Dedication to the Duke of Clarence
Prologue to second edition
BOOK I.
This booke conteyneth. iiii. traytees/ The first traytee is of the
Invencion of this playe of the chesse/ and conteyneth. iii.
chapitres.
The first chapitre is under what kynge this play was founden.
The .ii. chapitre/ who fonde this playe.
The .iii. chapitre/ treteth of. iii. causes why hit was made and
founden.
BOOK II.
The seconde traytee treteth of the chesse men/ and
conteyneth .v. chapitres.
The first chapitre treteth of the forme of a kynge and of suche
thinges as apperteyn to a kynge.
The .ii. chapitre treteth of y'e quene & her forme & maners.
The .iii. chapitre of the forme of the alphins and her offices and
maners.
The .iiii. chapitre is of the knygth and of his offices.
The .v. is of the rooks and of their maners and offices.
BOOK III.
The thirde traytee is of the offices of the comyn peple And hath
.viii. chapitres.
The first chapitre is of the labourers & tilinge of the erthe.
The .ii. of smythis and other werkes in yron & metall.
The .iii. is of drapers and makers of cloth & notaries.
The .iiii. is of marchantes and chaungers.
The .v. is of phisicyens and cirugiens and apotecaries.
The .vi. is of tauerners and hostelers.
The .vii. is of y'e gardes of the citees & tollers & customers.
The .viii. is of ribauldes disepleyars and currours.
BOOK IV.
The .iiii. traytee is of the meuyng and yssue of them And hath .viii.
chapitres.
The first is of the eschequer.
The seconde of the yssue and progression of the kynge.
The thirde of the yssue of the quene.
The fourth is of the yssue of the alphyns.
The fifth is of the yssue of the knyghtes.
The sixty chapitre of the yssue of the rooks.
The seuenth is of the meuynge & yssue of the comyn peple.
And the eyght and laste chapitre is of the epilegacion and of the
recapitulacion of all these forsaid chapitres.
GLOSSARY
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
The readers of the "Antiquary" will remember the anecdote told with so
much effusion by Jonathan Oldbuck. '"Davy Wilson," he said, "commonly
called Snuffy Davy, from his inveterate addiction to black rappee, was
the very prince of scouts for searching blind alleys, cellars, and
stalls, for rare volumes. He had the scent of a slow-hound, sir, and the
snap of a bull-dog. He would detect you an old black-letter ballad among
the leaves of a law-paper, and find an _editio princeps_ under the mask
of a school Corderius. Snuffy Davy bought the 'Game of Chess, 1474,' the
first book ever printed in England, from a stall in Holland for about
two groschen, or two-pence of our money. He sold it to Osborne for
twenty pounds, and as many books as came to twenty pounds more. Osborne
re-sold this inimitable windfall to Dr. Askew for sixty guineas. At Dr.
Askew's sale," continued the old gentleman, kindling as he spoke, "this
inestimable treasure blazed forth in its full value and was purchased by
Royalty itself for one hundred and seventy pounds! Could a copy now
occur, Lord only knows," he ejaculated with a deep sigh and lifted-up
hands, "Lord only knows what would be its ransom; and yet it was
originally secured, by skill and research, for the easy equivalent of
two-pence sterling."'
Sir Walter Scott in a footnote adds:--"This bibliomaniacal anecdote is
literally true; and David Wilson, the author need not tell his brethren
of the Roxburghe and Bannatyne Clubs, was a real personage." Mr. Blades,
whose iconoclastic temper is not moved to mercy even by this good story,
says that although it "looks like a true bibliographical anecdote," its
appearance is deceptive, and that "not a single statement is founded
on fact."[1]
Jonathan Oldbuck did not venture to estimate the sum that would ransom a
copy of the "Game of Chesse," and the world of the bibliomania has moved
even since his days, so that prices which seemed fabulous, and were
recounted with a sort of awe-struck wonder, have been surpassed in these
latter days, and the chances of any successor of "Snuffy Davy" buying a
Caxton for two groschen have been greatly reduced.
According to Mr. William Blades, our latest and best authority on the
subject, there are but ten copies known of the first edition of the
"Chesse" book.[2] There is a perfect copy in the King's Library in the
British Museum. This is what ought to be Snuffy Davy's copy. A previous
owner--R. Boys--has noted that it cost him 3_s_. The copy in the
Grenville Library has the table and last leaf supplied in facsimile. The
copy in the Public Library at Cambridge is defective to the extent of
five leaves. The Bodleian copy wants the last leaf. The Duke of
Devonshire's copy formerly belonged to Roger Wilbraham, and the first
and eighth leaves are supplied in facsimile. The exemplar belonging to
the Earl of Pembroke is perfect, "but on weak and stained paper." Earl
Spencer's copy is perfect, clean, and unusually large. Mr. H. Cunliffe's
copy came from the Alchorne and Inglis Libraries, and wants the first
two printed leaves, two near the end, and the last two. Mr. J. Holford's
copy is perfect and in its original binding. It was once in the library
of Sir Henry Mainwaring of Peover Hall, as his bookplate shows. On a
fly-leaf is written, "Ex dono Thomae Delves, Baronett 1682." The copy
belonging to the Rev. Edward Bankes is imperfect, and wants the
dedicatory leaf and is slightly wormed.
The book, when complete, consists of eight quaternions or eight leaves
folded together and one quinternion or section of five sheets folded
together, making in all seventy-four leaves, of which the first and last
are blank. The only type used throughout is that styled No. 1 by Mr.
Blades. The lines are not spaced out; the longest measure five inches; a
full page has thirty-one lines. Without title-page, signatures,
numerals, or catch-words. The volume, as already mentioned, begins with
a blank leaf, and on the second recto is Caxton's prologue, space being
left for a two-line initial, without director. The text begins with a
dedication:--"(T)o the right noble/ right excellent & vertuous prince
George duc of Clarence Erl of Warwyk and of Salisburye/ grete
chamberlayn of Englond & leutenant of Ireland oldest broder of kynge
Edward by the grace of god kynge of England and of France/ your most
humble servant william Caxton amonge other of your servantes sendes unto
yow peas. helthe. Joye and victorye upon your Enemyes/ Right highe
puyssant and." The text ends on the seventy-third recto, thus:--"And
sende yow thaccomplisshement of your hye noble. Joyous and vertuous
desirs Amen:/: Fynysshid the lastday of Marche the yer of our lord god.
a. thousand foure honderd and LXXIIII. *. *. *. *." The seventy-fourth
leaf is blank.
It is unnecessary to say that this book seldom comes into the market.
The recorded sales are very few. In 1682 R. Smith sold a perfect copy
for 13s. 2d. In 1773 J. West's copy was bought by George III. for.L32
0s. 6d. Alchorne's imperfect copy was bought by Inglis for L54 12s., and
at the sale of his books found a purchaser in Lord Audley for L31 10s.,
and was again transferred, in 1855, to the possession of Mr. J. Cunliffe
for L60 l0s. 0d.[3] Mr. J. Holford's copy was bought at the Mainwaring
sale for L101.
The last copy offered for sale was described in one of Mr. Bernard
Quaritch's catalogues issued in 1872, and the account given by that
veteran bibliopole is well worth reproduction.
CAXTON'S GAME AND PLAY OF CHESS MORALIZED, (translated 1474) FIRST
EDITION, folio, 65 LEAVES (of the 72), bound in old ruffia gilt, L400.
[Blackletter: Fynyshid the last day of Marche the yer of our Lord God,
a thousand foure hondred and lxxiiii....]
An extremely large, though somewhat imperfect copy of
THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED IN ENGLAND, from Caxton's press.
Mr. Blades quotes 9 copies (4 perfect, 5 imperfect), the present is the
10th known copy, and is TALLER than even the Grenville--hitherto the
tallest known copy; my copy measures 11-1/8 inch in height by 8 in
width, whilst the Grenville copy (also imperfect) is only 11
inches high.
COLLATION of _my copy_:
[Blackletter: This Booke conteyneth iiii traytees] 1 _leaf_.
[Blackletter: This first chapiter of the first tractate] 1 _leaf_.
[Blackletter: The trouthe for to do Justice right wysly,]
etc. to the end 62 _leaves_.
_The last leaf with the date:_
[Blackletter: In conquerynge his rightful inheritance,]
_ending:_ [Blackletter: fynyshed], _etc._ 1474 1 _leaf_.
-------------
65 leaves.
My copy wants therefore 7 leaves, the two blank ones being out of
question. The imperfections include the first leaf, and two leaves in
the second chapitre of the fourth tractate, the end is all right. I
should be glad to hear of any IMPERFECT COPY of this work, which would
supply me with what I want. In the mean time this precious relic of the
Infancy of Printing in England can be feen by BUYERS of Rare books.
_See_ Dibdin's Bibl. Spenc. IV. p. 189.
No copy of this edition has been sold for years; in 1813, Alchorne's
copy, wanting first two leaves, the last two leaves and two leaves in
the second chapter of the fourth tractate, fetched at Evans', L54.
12_s_. The value of this class of books has much risen since then, and
may now be considered, as ten times greater.
In comparing the first edition of "Caxton's Game of Chess" with the
second, one perceives many variations in the spelling. I confider the
_first edition_ to be the more interesting, for a variety of reasons:
1. It is the first book printed in England.
2. It is the _Editio princeps_ of the English version.
3. It shows the Art of Printing in its crudest form.
4. It has a Post-script not in the second edition.
Both editions run on together to the passage on the last page of the
second edition:
[Blackletter:
And a mon that lyvyth in thys world without vertues lyveth not
as a man but as a beste.]
The first edition ends thus:
[Blackletter: And therefore my right redoubted Lord I pray almighty god
to save the Kyng our soverain lord to gyve him grace to yssue as a Kynge
tabounde in all vertues/ to be assisted with all other his lordes in
such wyse yn his noble royame of England may prospere/ habounde in
vertues and yn synne may be eschewid justice kepte/ the royame defended
good men rewarded malefactours punyshid the ydle peple to be put to
laboure that he wyth the nobles of the royame may regne gloriously.
In conquerynge his rightfull inheritaunce / that verraypeas and charitie
may endure in both his royames and that marchandise may have his cours
in suche wise that every man eschewe synne/ and encrese in vertuous
occupacions / Praynge your good grace to resseyve this lityll and symple
book made under the hope and shadow of your noble protection by hym that
is your most humble servant in gree and thanke. And I shall praye
almighty god for your long lyf & welfare / which he preserve And sende
now thaccomplishment of your hye noble joyous and vertuous
desirs Amen:|:
Fynysshid the last day of marche the yer of our lord god a. thousand
four hondred and lxxiiii. *.:.:.*.]
The second edition ends thus:
[Blackletter: Thenne late every man of what condycion he be that redyth
or herith this litel book redde. take therby ensaumple to amend hym.
Explicit per Caxton.]
This copy came from the library of Mr. L.M. Petit.[4]
It will be noticed that Mr. Quaritch calls the _editio princeps_ of
Caxton's "Game and Play of the Chesse" the first book printed in
England. This was the general opinion of bibliographers before the
investigations of Mr. Blades. Dibdin, although he seems to have had some
doubt, pronounced in favour of that view. Yet it is clearly erroneous.
The only materials for judgment are those afforded by the colophon and
the prologue to the second edition, with the silent but eloquent
testimony of typography. Caxton ends the first edition with the
words:--"Fynysshid the last day of Marche the yer of our lord god a
thousand four hondred and LXXIIII." The word "fynysshid," as Mr. Blades
observes, "has doubtless the same signification here as in the epilogue
to the second book of Caxton's translation of the Histories of Troy,
'Begonne in Brugis, contynued in Gaunt and finysshed in Coleyn,' which
evidently refers to the translation only. The date, 1475-6, has been
affixed, because in the Low Countries at that time the year commenced on
Easter-day; this in 1474 fell on April 10th, thus giving, as the day of
the conclusion of the translation, 31 March 1475, the same year being
the earliest possible period of its appearance as a printed book." Then
there is Caxton's own racy account of the circumstances under which the
book first appeared:--
"And emong alle other good werkys It is a werke of ryght special
recomendacion to enforme and to late vnderstonde wysedom and vertue vnto
them that be not lernyd ne can not dyscerne wysedom fro folye Th[=e]ne
emonge whom there was an excellent doctour of dyuynyte in the royame of
fraunce of the ordre of thospytal of Saynt Johns of Jherusalem which
entended the same and hath made a book of the chesse moralysed whiche at
suche tyme as I was resident in brudgys in the counte of Flaundres cam
into my handes/ whiche whan I had redde and ouerseen/ me semed ful
necessarye for to be had in englisshe/ And in eschewyng of ydlenes And
to thende that s[=o]me which haue not seen it/ ne [=v]nderstonde frenssh
ne latyn J delybered in my self to translate it in to our maternal
tonge/ And whan I so had achyeued the sayd translacion/ J dyde doo sette
in enprynte a certeyn nombre of theym/ Whiche anone were depesshed and
solde wherfore by cause thys sayd book is ful of holsom wysedom and
requysyte vnto euery astate and degree/ J haue purposed to enprynte it/
shewyng therin the figures of suche persons as longen to the playe."
It is clear from this that both the translation and printing belong to
the period of Caxton's residence in Bruges. From the use of the
instrumental form "dyde doo sette en enprynte" it might be thought that
Caxton employed the services of some printer, but although commonly so
employed, there are instances which will not bear this interpretation of
its intention.[5] He either employed a printer or made some partnerfhip
with one, and there are various indications that confirm Mr. Blades'
theory that the book came from the press of Colard Mansion.
The second edition is undoubtedly the work of our first English printer.
"Explicit per Caxton" is the unambiguous statement of the colophon. It
is a much more advanced specimen of typography than the first edition.
It has signatures, of which _a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i,_ are
quaternions, _k_ and _l_ are terternions, making in all eighty-four
leaves, of which the first is blank. There is no title-page, and the
type used is that which Mr. Blades reckons as No. 2*. The lines are
spaced out to an even length. There are twenty-nine lines to a full
page, and the full line measures 4-7/8 inches. The prologue begins on _a
ij_., and the table of chapters begins on the next page. The text begins
on the recto of _a iii_. The text ends on the recto of _l_ 6, the last
page being blank. There are sixteen woodcuts in the volume, which are
used twenty-four times. There has been some diversity of opinion as to
the year in which this "Game of the Chesse" came from the press of
Caxton. The book is not dated. Dibdin thought it one of the printer's
earliest efforts. Figgins regarded it as the earliest issue of the
Westminster press, and further believed that it was printed from cut
metal types. This is not the view of Mr. Blades, who says: "An
examination of the work, however, with a typographical eye does not
afford a single evidence of very early workmanship. All Caxton's early
books were uneven in the length of their lines--this is quite even. Not
one of the early works had any signatures--this is signed throughout.
These two features alone are quite sufficient to fix its date of
impression at least as late as 1480, when Caxton first began the use of
signatures; but when we find that every known copy of this edition of
the 'Chess-Book' presents a thicker and more worn appearance than any
one copy of any other book, there is good reason for supposing that this
may have followed the 'Tulli' of 1481, and have been the last book for
which Type No. 2* was used."[6]
Mr. Blades describes nine known copies, so that even fewer exemplars
remain of the second edition than of its predecessor. The copy in the
King's Library in the British Museum is imperfect, wanting several
leaves, and is mended in many places. The copy in the Pepysian
Collection at Cambridge wants one-half of the last leaf. Trinity
College, Cambridge, has a perfect copy, "but a bad impression." The
Bodleian copy is defective in not having the last leaf. St. John's
College, Oxford, has a copy, from which one-half of _d iii_. has been
torn away. The Imperial Library at Vienna has an imperfect copy. The
Duke of Devonshire's copy is perfect, but it is "a poor impression, and
slightly stained." The Earl of Pembroke's copy is very imperfect. Earl
Spencer's is only slightly imperfect. The prices fetched by the second
edition have a sufficiently wide range. In 1698, at Dr. Bernard's sale,
a copy fold for 1s. 6d. Farmer's copy in 1798 fetched L4 4s. Ratcliffe's
copy was bought at his sale for L16 by Willett; and when his books came
to the hammer in 1813, it was purchased by the Duke of Devonshire for
L173 5s.[7] It is interesting to know that the copy of the second
edition in the Bibliotheca Spenceriana formerly belonged to Laurence
Sterne, who bought it for a few shillings at York![8]
In the present reprint, the text followed is that of the first edition,
transcribed from the copy in the British Museum; but the variations,
alterations, and additions made in the second issue are all recorded in
footnotes. The reader has, therefore, before him the work in all its
fulness. The same reasons that have led to the adoption of this course
have also decided the publisher to include facsimiles of the curious
woodcuts which appeared in the second edition. These, although
necessarily reductions in size, reproduce the quaint vigour of the
originals.
Caxton, we have seen, translated the "Game of the Chesse" from the
French. There were in effect two, if not three, from which he may have
taken his version. One of these is by Jean Faron, Perron, or Feron (as
the name is variously spelled), a monk of the order of St. Dominic, of
whom the notices are exceedingly scanty.[9] La Croix du Maine styles him
"de l'Ordre des Freres Prescheurs ou Jacobins du Paris." La Monnaye says
that the translation was made from the Latin of Cessoles, and was begun
in the year 1347. It has not been printed.[10] The translation is
considered a literal version of the Latin of Cessoles.
The prologue of Perron's version is as follows:--"Chy ensuit le geu des
Eschas moralise, ouquel a plusiers exemples bien a noter. A noblehomme,
Bertrand de Tarascon, frere Jehan Perron, de l'ordre des Freres
precheurs de Paris, son petil et humble chappelain soy tout. Le Sainte
Escripture dit que Dieux a fait a chascun commandement de pourchassier a
tous nos prochains leur sauvement. Or est-il ainsi que nos prochains ne
sont pas tout un, ains sont de diverses condicions, estas et manieres,
sy comme il appert. Car les uns sont nobles; les aultres non: les
aultres sont de cler engin; les aultres, non: les aultres sont enclins a
devocion; les aultres, non. Et pour ce, affin que le commandement de
Dieu soit mis a execution bien convenablement, il convient avoir
plusiers voyes et baillier a chascun ce qui lui est plus convenable; et
ainsi pourroit il le commandement de Dieu accomplir; .... Pour tant je,
vostre petit chappelain, a vostre requeste, que je tieng pour
commendement, vous ai volu translata de latin en francais le Gieu des
Eschas moralise, que fist l'un de nos freres, appele frere Jaques de
Cossoles, maistre en divinite, si que vous l'entendes plus legierrement;
et a exemple des nobles hystoires qui y sont nottees, veuilles
maintenir, quant a vous, honnestement, et quant aux autres justement....
Or prenes done ce petit present, comencie le 4'e jour de May, l'an
1347."[11]
That Caxton made use of Perron's version is clear. Thus Mr. Blades
mentions the description of Evilmerodach as "un homme joly sans justice"
as peculiar to Ferron, whose version he regards as the basis of the
first and third chapters of Caxton's work.
Dr. Van der Linde mentions a number of MSS.; in some the date is given
as 1357, and in one as 1317. This version remains unprinted, but there
are MSS. of it in the Bibliotheque Nationale, at Aosta, Cambrai, at
Brussels, in the British Museum, Chartres, at Bern, and at Stockholm.[12]
Dr. Van der Linde also describes a MS. on parchment of the fifteenth
century, forming part of the national library at Paris, which contains
the Game of Chess in verse.
"Mes si d'esbat te prent tallant,
Pren ton esbat deuement;
Mes si a jouer vieulx attendre,
Un noble jou te faulte attendre,
C'est des echecs qui est licite
Et a touz bien les gens incite."
The author has concealed his name with an ingenuity that has so far
defied penetration.
"Nommez mon nom et mon surnom,
Je ey escript tout environ,
A vingt et dous lettres sans plus,
Sera trouve cy au dessus
En enscript, et sans plus ne moins."
On this it is only necesiary to quote the remarks of a French
critic:--"Ou ne nous dit pas si c'est dans la suite meme de la phrase,
ou seulement en acrosticke, que se trouvent les vingt-deux lettres de
ces nom mysterieux. Nous ne saurions former aucun nom avec les initiales
des trente vers qui precedent ceux que nous venons de citer; et le
merite de l'ouvrage ne nous encourage pas a faire des longues recherches
pour decouvrir un nom que l'auteur a pris plaisir a nous cacher."[13]
The bulk of Caxton's work is undoubtedly from the French translation of
Jehan de Vignay, whose dedication to Prince John of France has simply
been transformed into a similar address to the Duke of Clarence. He
styles De Vignay "an excellent doctor of the order of the Hospital of
St. John's of Jerusalem." This is the only authority we have for
supposing De Vignay to be connected with that order. He styles himself
"hospitaller de l'ordre de haut pas," which was situated in the Faubourg
St. Jacques of Paris. It is curious that two members of the same
order--for Ferron was also a Jacobin--should independently have occupied
themselves with the same work. The version by De Vignay was probably the
later of the two, and it was also the most popular, for whilst Ferron's
is still unprinted, that of De Vignay has been frequently re-issued from
the press. The work is dedicated to Jean de France, Duc de Normandie,
who became king in 1350. It will be seen from this that these two French
versions were practically contemporaneous.