Chess.- Damiano de Odemeira. Libro da imparare giochare a scachi, Rome, [c.1524].

Chess.- Damiano de Odemeira. Libro da imparare giochare a scachi, collation: A-H8 64 numbered ff., roman letter, text in Italian and Spanish, large woodcut of two chess players on title and numerous woodcut diagrams in text, fore-margin of title trimmed close with loss of a hyphen and just shaving border of woodcut, 18th century French pale brown calf, spine gilt, edges gilt, slightly rubbed, head and foot of spine slightly chipped, joints partly cracked but firm, 8vo (140 x 91mm.), Rome, [c.1524].*** Extremely rare early edition of the first book to deal with the complete game and the first to give directions for playing without seeing the board.First printed in 1512, this is the second of several undated editions (1520–1540) described in detail by Dr A.van der Linde, Geschichte des Schachspiels, Berlin 1874, vol. I pp. 337–47. The woodcut on the title is the one used in Antonio Blado’s 1524 edition.Little is known about the author, a Portuguese apothecary, but his compilation is the first Italian work on modern chess and includes variations of Petrov’s defence, the gambit now called after him, the Giuoco Piano, and the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. Of particular interest are some of his pieces of advice: don’t play aimlessly, don’t play too fast; when you have a good move look for a better one; and use the ‘king’s leap’ (i.e. castling) for protection. Damiano is also the first to state that the board should be placed so that the lower right square is white. The section headed ‘Artede giocare alla mente’, beginning on H5 of this edition, is an explanation of how to play blindfold.Provenance: ‘De Truchis’(?) (16th century ownership inscription at foot of title and on final leaf); ‘Di Giulio . . .’, (obliterated seventeenth-century inscription on final leaf); Rev. George Innes (1759–1842, Master of Warwick School for half a century from 1792, with his bookplate); J. W. Rimington-Wilson (ownership inscription on back of front free endpaper and with his notes on recto and verso of front flyleaf). Sale, Sotheby's, 28 February 1928, lot 314, to Quaritch; Bernard Quaritch Catalogue 428 (1929), no. 387 (‘a good copy, the text is not cut into in any way’).Literature: Sander no. 2295 (citing this copy, classifying it as the fifth edition, and dating it after 1524); Van der Linde I p. 341; Palau records two or three editions (nos. 68221 and note, and 68223) but without sufficient detail to distinguish between them; A. Chicco, ‘Le edizioni italiane del Libro di Damiano’, L’Esopo 22 (June 1984), pp. 46–58. Library Hub records copies of undated editions which may or may not be the present edition (Bodleian and British Library). OCLC records six copies only: Braunschweig, Cleveland, Library of Congress, Princeton, UCLA, and State Library of Victoria.