El Escorial, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo, T.I.6

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games Facsimile Edition

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A Richly Illustrated Manuscript

"El libro del axedrez dados et tablas," by Alfonso X "The Wise," completed in 1283, a year before the death of the King, was carried out on parchment with a format of 28 x 40 cm. It is written and illustrated in color and with gold leaf, with a profusion of scenes. In total, it bears 150 miniatures in a good state of conservation.

Paradigm of Alfonso X's cultural work, the 150 drawings in the Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games are one of the most important testimonies of this king's court painting, both in their iconographic and stylistic characteristics and in the court context and the hermetic culture they reveal: a monument of symbolic hermetic literature of the era, turned by means of game into the genuine transmitter of knowledge who travel from the far East and are lost bit by bit in each transmission.

One of the most beautiful miniatures (fol. 71v) shows some dice players in a garden in Seville (?) with a cypress tree, a palm tree and an orange tree. The figures stand out on the background as it happens in the miniatures of the Rich Code of Cantigas de Santa Maria.

Excellent and unique piece of work in its gender and in the history of chess, completed seven hundred years ago, it documentally introduces the game of chess into Europe and confers it the range corresponding to a game of kings, noble, and clever people.

We have 2 facsimiles of the manuscript "Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games":

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Manuscript book description compiled by the publisher.
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#1 Libro de los Juegos de Ajedrez, Dados y Tablas de Alfonso X el Sabio (Parchment Facsimile)

Valencia: Scriptorium, 2010

+ 6

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, El Escorial, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo, T.I.6, Facsimile edition by Scriptorium
Facsimile edition by Scriptorium

+ 6

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, El Escorial, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo, T.I.6, Facsimile edition by Scriptorium
Facsimile edition by Scriptorium

+ 6

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, El Escorial, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo, T.I.6, Facsimile edition by Scriptorium
Facsimile edition by Scriptorium

+ 6

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, El Escorial, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo, T.I.6, Facsimile edition by Scriptorium
Facsimile edition by Scriptorium

+ 6

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, El Escorial, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo, T.I.6, Facsimile edition by Scriptorium
Facsimile edition by Scriptorium

+ 6

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, El Escorial, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo, T.I.6, Facsimile edition by Scriptorium
Facsimile edition by Scriptorium

+ 6

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, El Escorial, Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo, T.I.6, Facsimile edition by Scriptorium
Facsimile edition by Scriptorium
  • Commentary (English, Spanish) by González Jiménez, Manuel; López de Guereño Sanz, M. Teresa; Fernández Fernández, Laura; Bordons Alba, César
  • Limited Edition: 390 copies
  • Full-size color reproduction of the entire original document, Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games: 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.
Unique and exclusive edition in natural sheepskin parchment. The facsimile is issued in a blue velvet slipcase. Co-edition with Patrimonio nacional.

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#2 Alfonso X el Sabio - Libro de los Juegos, de Ajedrez, Dados y Tablas

Valencia: Vicent Garcia Editores, 1987

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores

+ 16

Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games, T.I.6 - Real Biblioteca del Monasterio (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain), Facimile  edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
Facimile edition by Vicent Garcia Editores
  • Commentary (English, Spanish) by Gómez de Pablos, Manuel D.; Vázquez de Parga, Luis; Domínguez Rodríguez, Ana; Calvo, Ricardo; Crombach, Mechthild
  • Limited Edition: 2000 copies
  • Full-size color reproduction of the entire original document, Alfonso X The Wise's Book of Chess, Dice and Board Games: 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.

Specially made aged paper, imitating vellum. Presentation case including facsimile and commentary volume in which historic, artistic, and chess studies are featured, together with a complete transcription of the text.

Published for Ediciones Poniente (Madrid) by Vicent GarcÍa Editores and distributed by Edilan.

Binding

Hand-dyed goatskin.

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