In 4to. 208x146mm. In 4to. 208x146mm. Ivory vellum, smooth spine with calligraphed title, gilt edges. Pages [8], 214, [2]. Printer's mark on the title page, illustrations in the text. Heraldic ex-libris bookplate to front pastedown “John de Zulueta”. Slight signs of humidity and wear, some pages with homogeneous yellowing, restoration in the inner corner of the last pages.
First Italian edition. Fundamental treatise on chess by the Spanish monk Ruy Lopez de Segura, great chess player and adviser to Philip II, who in this manual provides, among other things, for the first time a complete picture of the openings then known. Lopez gave his name to one of the best known chess openings. Since the small treatise of Daminao published in 1512, there had been no publication on the subject. There is the history of the game, of the openings and the severe criticism of Daminao's proposals, with the correct movements of the pieces. Olschki: « C'est la seule édition italienne de ce livre extremely rare »
Palau, VII 14199. Le Lionnais, Dictionnaire des échecs, p. 229. Olschki, II, 2602.