DUCCHI, Gregorio. La Scacheide di Gregorio Ducchi gentil'huomo bresciano.
Vicenza, Apresso Perin Libraro & Giorgio Greco compagni, 1586
Small 4to; 200 x 150 mm. Contemporary limp vellum binding. Leaves (6), 121, (1 blank). Woodcut titlepage and initials. Contemporary writing to top edge. Pastedown renewed. Bookplate to the front pastedown. A bit of dampstains to the margins. P. 58 with a bit of soiling.
First edition of this heroic poem on chess in six cantos, which recounts in verse a chess game in the form of an epic battle between two powerful kings and their armies. Originally published in Vicenza in 1586, the work combines the game's technique with a chivalric style in a shining example of Renaissance literature that elevates the game of chess to an epic subject, often analyzed for its poetic and historical structure.
Van der Linde 4359/722; VDL Geschichte II, p. 272; Schachlitteratur 722; KB 4359; BMC German Books p. 228.