The Game and Playe of the Chesse

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Depiction from The Game and Playe of Chesse

The Game and Playe of Chesse is a book by William Caxton, the first English printer. Published in the 1470s, it is one of the earliest titles published in English,[1] the first being Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, also by Caxton. It was based on a book by Jacobus de Cessolis.[2] The book is an "allegory of fixed social structures where each rank has its allotted role."[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wills, Matthew. "The First English Books"
  2. ^ Knowles, Christine. "Caxton and His Two French Sources: The 'Game and Playe of the Chesse' and the Composite Manuscripts of the Two French Translations of the 'Ludus Scaccorum'" (subscription required). Modern Language Review 49 (4): 417–423. October 1954. Hosted by JSTOR.
  3. ^ "Caxton's Chaucer".

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