Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Pal. lat. 961

Vatican Treatise on Chess Facsimile Edition

Our price

More Buying Choices

Request Info

The Vatican Treatise On Chess is an illuminated manuscript copy of a popular Christian moralizing treatise that uses chess as a touchstone for explaining the dynamics of medieval society. It was made at Amberg in Bavaria in 1458. It is captivating for its thirteen lively images of people representing various stations of pre-modern life, from kings and queens to toll collectors and players of dice. The first miniature pictures the text's author, a Dominican friar, delivering his sermon and pointing to a chess board (fol. 2r).

We have 1 facsimile edition of the manuscript "Vatican Treatise on Chess": Schachbuch des Jacobus de Cessolis facsimile edition, published by Belser Verlag, 1988

Request Info / Price
Manuscript book description compiled by Antonio Lenzo.
Please Read
International social justice movements and the debates that ensued prompted us to start considering the contents of our website from a critical point of view. This has led us to acknowledge that most of the texts in our database are Western-centered. We have asked the authors of our content to be aware of the underlying racial and cultural bias in many scholarly sources, and to try to keep in mind multiple points of view while describing the manuscripts. We also recognize that this is yet a small, first step towards fighting inequality.

If you notice any trace of racist or unjust narratives in our communications, please help us be part of the change by letting us know.

Schachbuch des Jacobus de Cessolis

Zurich: Belser Verlag, 1988

  • Commentary (German) by Frugoni, Chiara; Petti Balbi, Giovanna; Vidmanova, Anezka
  • Limited Edition: 2980 copies
  • Full-size color reproduction of the entire original document, Vatican Treatise on Chess: the facsimile attempts to replicate the look-and-feel and physical features of the original document; pages are trimmed according to the original format; the binding might not be consistent with the current document binding.

Our Price

More Buying Choices

Request Info