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[Guiton, N. (aine)]. - Traite Complet du Jeu de Trictrac ... contenant les principes et regles de ce jeu, avec des tables de calculs qui ne se trouvent dans aucun des traites connus.

Title: Traite Complet du Jeu de Trictrac ... contenant les principes et regles de ce jeu, avec des tables de calculs qui ne se trouvent dans aucun des traites connus.
Description: Paris, Michaud 1816. Octavo, untrimmed and unpressed in publisher's mottled wrapper with printed spine label (piece torn from the front edge of the back wrapper); [4],311pp, woodcut figures through the text. Some spotting but an impressive survival in absolutely original form. ¶ First edition and quite scarce; the second, which appeared in 1822, seems a bit easier to find. Despite appearances trictrac is not backgammon. I'm told that it is not a racing game but a game of probabilities. In vogue with the French aristocracy during the 17th and 18th centuries, there seems to have been a lull in books between the revolution and this work (coincident with the Bourbon restoration). Guiton's introduction has no political references though, merely stating that the most modern work (possibly Falavel's book of 1776?) is often erroneous and otherwise superficial. It is an appealing notion that until quite recently the most extensive writing in English on trictrac was in Willard Fiske's 'Chess in Iceland' (1905).

Keywords: games social history sport pastimes c19th France backgammon

Price: AUD 300.00 = appr. US$ 207.56 Seller: Richard Neylon, Bookseller
- Book number: 7939