Le jeu des eschets

Author: Giaccino Greco (1600-1634)Year: 1689Publisher: Jacques le FeburePlace: ParisDescription:343 pages. Duodecimo (5 1/2" x 3 1/4"). Bound in leather with raised spine bands and gilt to spine. Originally written in 1619 in Italian. From the library of Lothar Schmid. [Biblioteca van Der Niemeijeriana: 400] Third French edition.Gioachino Greco, also known as Il Calabrese, was born around 1600 in Celico, which near Cosenza in Calabria. Calabria had already produced such players as Leonardo di Bono and Michele di Mauro. From his writing it's apparent the he wasn't educated and likely came from a lower class family. Already in 1619, Greco started keeping a notebook of tactics and particularly clever games and he took up the custom of giving copies of his manuscripts to his wealthy patrons. In Rome Monsignor Corsino della casa Minutoli Tegrini, Cardinal Savelli and Monsignor Francisco Buoncompagni all received copies (of which there are extant copies, dated 1620 in the Corsiniana library