Facsimiles, Transcriptions and Translations

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Academie Universelle des Jeux (1718) (Facsimile) -- An out-of-period but still very interesting edition of one of the earliest serious encyclopedias of games. (French) (more)
Benedetto's *Trattato Delle Proportioni Et Proportionalita* (Facsimile) -- A 16th century MS describing the Rithmimachia Pytagorae -- Rhythmomachy. (more)
Chess Problems in the NYPL (Facsimile) -- Half a dozen scanned pages from the New York Public Library's collection, showing chess problems, apparently from 14th c. Italy. (more)
Description at The History of Chess (Reconstruction, History, Facsimile) -- Goes into more detail about this game than most sites. (more)
Facsimile images of Jacobus de Cessolis' MS (Facsimile) -- A Latin text that uses Chess as a metaphor for the various roles of human life. Later translated into English and published by Caxton: Chess -- Caxton's "The Game and Playe of the Chesse" (more)
Historical playing cards (Facsimile) -- A collection of images of historical playing cards. Many of these are from uncut sheets of woodblock printed cards. (more)
Images from the Alphonso MS (Facsimile) -- Organized by Charles Knutson of MacGregor Historic Games, this site collects (admittedly somewhat low-res) images of much of Alphonso X's Book of Games. (more)
Images of many board games (heavy on Goose) (Equipment, Facsimile) -- A substantial number of game boards, many (but not all) period and many (but not all) of them Goose variations (more)
MS page showing Nine Men's Morris (Facsimile) -- The illustration is in the lower border, and is a bit small, but it is unambiguously showing two people playing Merels. (more)
On the Explanation of Chess and Backgammon (History, Transcription, Translation, Facsimile) -- A medieval Persian source, describing how Chess came to Persia and how "backgammon" (games within the Tables) was invented. (more)
Primero from Nare's Glossary (Facsimile) -- Facsimile provided by Imran Ghory -- well post-period, but still interesting. (more)
Repetición de amores y Arte de ajedrez (Facsimile) -- Online facsimile of a 1497 Spanish book on Chess (more)
Scan of Liber de Ludo Aleae (Facsimile) -- This is Cardano's book, the standard source of Primero information. (more)
The Compleat Gamester, 1725 edition (Facsimile) -- A facsimile of a later (but still useful) edition of Cotton, available on Google Books. (more)
The Playe of Chess (Facsimile) -- Relatively high-resolution images at Digital Bodleian, from Caxton's English translation of De ludo scachorum. One of the first books published in English! Not actually very useful from a rules POV, though: this is mostly moral philosophy, using Chess and its pieces as a metaphor. (more)
The Silliman Etching (Facsimile) -- A 1665 etching of children at play, hosted and annotated by Faire Tyme Toys. (more)
The Web Gallery of Art (Facsimile) -- A useful virtual museum with a lot of period artworks. (more)
Tractatus de scacchis, de tabulis et de merellis (Facsimile) -- Online facsimile of an early 15th century book on Chess, Tables and Merels, containing bazillions of puzzles. Extremely neat! (more)
Vat.lat.5854 (Facsimile) -- An apparently-anonymous (?), but large and interesting manuscript, full of what appear to be chess problems. The hand isn't the easiest to read, but appears to be Latin, and there is a lot of it. (more)

Transcriptions

A court case, described on ORB (Transcription, History) -- Involves a fixes quek board, which is a clever twist. (more)
A page on Austrian Tarock (History, Transcription) -- Collected by Hans-Joachim Alscher; in German, but mostly links, including lots of links to various period sources. Well worth going through for those links. (more)
Alternate reconstruction of Grande Acedrex (Reconstruction, History, Transcription, Translation) -- A very detailed reconstruction that goes back to the Alfonso MS and looks at it carefully. (more)
An excerpt from a mid-18th century book on Minchiate, with rules for Prime (Transcription) -- Microsoft Word format, transcribed by Thierry Depaulis (more)
Another transcription of Picket from Cotgrave (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Ruben, based on Justin's transcription (more)
Anton de Stoc's reconstruction of Trump (Reconstruction, Transcription) -- This is a transcription of a brief fragment of a language text, and a reconstruction of Trump based on it. (more)
CAPITOLO SOPRA il gioco di Primiera (Transcription) -- by Giulio Mantoano (probably c.1560). Microsoft Word format, transcribed by Thierry Depaulis (more)
Cardano on Tables Games (Transcription, Translation) -- A transcription and translation of the relevant sections from Cardano's Liber de Ludo Aleae. (more)
Caxton's "The Game and Playe of the Chesse" (Transcription) -- This is a lovely transcription of an important and not-easy-to-read book on Chess. (more)
Commento al Capitolo della Primiera (Transcription) -- a long article on the subject of this poem by Francesco Berni from 1526. (In Italian.) PDF (more)
Description at The History of Chess (Reconstruction, History, Transcription, Translation) -- (more)
Excerpt from "Second Frutes" (Transcription) -- by John Florio (1591). Transcribed by Justin. (more)
Excerpt from Pleasant and Delightfull Dialogues in Spanish and English (Transcription) -- by John Minsheu (John Haviland, printer; London, 1623). Transcribed by Justin. (more)
Excerpts from Jessel's Bibliography of Works in English on Playing Cards and Gaming (Transcription, Bibliography) -- This 1905 book attempted to enumerate all published works on games; this transcription by Justin is all pre-1700 entries. (more)
Extracts from The Complete Gamester (Transcription) -- A few sections, via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Game References found at EMEDD (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Ruben, these are game entries in various period or near-period English dictionaries. (more)
Games in *The Academy of Armory* (Transcription) -- Transcription by Justin du Coeur and Jeff Singman of the relevant sections from this 1688 book on heraldry, which happens to talk a lot about a lot of stuff. (more)
Il gioco di primiera (Transcription) -- a "motetto a 3 voci, due tenori e basso", composed by Carlo Grossi (1681). Microsoft Word format, transcribed by Thierry Depaulis (more)
Justin's transcription of Metromachy (Transcription) -- A faithful as I could make it transcription of the original Latin source. (more)
Les jeux de Gargantua (1534) (Transcription) -- The relevant section, transcribed in the original French by Hans-Joachim Alscher. (more)
Modernized version of "Jeu de prime de Lyon" (Transcription) -- Microsoft Word format, transcribed by Thierry Depaulis (more)
On the Explanation of Chess and Backgammon (History, Transcription, Translation, Facsimile) -- A medieval Persian source, describing how Chess came to Persia and how "backgammon" (games within the Tables) was invented. (more)
Opusculos legales del Rey Don Alfonso el sabio (Transcription) -- Facsimile of an 1836 transcription of a period law book, which I gather included laws on gambling. (more)
Regles du Jeu des Tarots (Transcription) -- Transcription by Thierry Depaulis of the earliest printed rules for Tarot. (French) (more)
Relevant parts of *Familiar Dialogues* (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Justin based on Anton's earlier transcription and Godfrey's facsimile. (more)
Some game terms found in the *Diccionario de Autoridades* (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Ruben, this Spanish source is well out of period, but noted here for research purposes. (more)
Some games listed in Minsheu's Spanish/English dictionary (Transcription) -- Notes from Greg Lindahl, transcribing a few relevant entries from this 1599 dictionary. (more)
Sonja Musser Golladay's Dissertation on the Alfonso MS (PDF) (Overview, Reconstruction, History, Transcription, Translation) -- A PDF copy of the full, 1400-page tome about the Alfonso. This is the single most important source when working on this MS, including a full translation, lots of notes and reconstruction details, information about the culture and context, and so on. (more)
The Electronic Texts and Condordances of the Prose Works of Alfonso X, El Sabio (Transcription, Vendor) -- A transcription of the complete Alfonso works (including the Book of Games), from the Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies. (more)
The Royal Game of Ombre (Transcription) -- A 1665 source, transcribed by Imran (more)
Transcription of "Jeu de prime de Lyon" (Transcription) -- Microsoft Word format, transcribed by Thierry Depaulis (more)
Transcription of Cotgrave's description of Picket (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Justin du Coeur. (more)
Transcription of Cotgrave's Gleek (Transcription) -- A transcription by Imran Ghory (more)
Transcription of Gargantua (1542 ed) (Transcription) -- In the original French. Search for "CHAPITRE XXII" to get the relevant section. (more)
Transcription of Gleek from Cotgrave (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Imran, via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Transcription of Ombre, from Cotgrave 2nd ed. (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Ruben, via the Wayback Machine (more)
Transcription of Ombre, from Cotgrave 3rd ed (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Ruben, via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Transcription of Picket from Cotton (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Justin. Apparently heavily plagiarized from Cotgrave. (more)
Transcription of Putt from Cotton (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Ruben, via the Wayback Machine. (more)
Transcription of Tick-Tack from Cotton (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Justin. Warning: this is pretty cryptic. (more)
Transcription of William Fulke's book (Transcription) -- This is a complete transcription (without images yet) of a 1563 translation of Boissiere's 1554/56 description of Rhythmomachy. (more)
Transcriptions of some bits of Cotgrave (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Ruben Krasnopolsky, archived by Justin, mostly pointing into the Wayback Machine. (more)
Trump, transcribed by Antron de Stoc (Transcription, Reconstruction) -- A section from Bellot's Familiar Dialogues (1586). Includes a quick reconstruction, as well as a Lochac variant. (more)
Vida's Scacchia Ludus (Transcription, Translation) -- A transcription of a 16th century Latin poem about a chess game between the gods. Also, a full translation on a separate page. (more)
Walker's *A Manifest Detection of Diceplay* (Transcription) -- Transcribed by Alexx Kay, this 16th century book is mainly about how to cheat at dice. (more)

Translations

Alternate reconstruction of Grande Acedrex (Reconstruction, History, Transcription, Translation) -- A very detailed reconstruction that goes back to the Alfonso MS and looks at it carefully. (more)
An in-depth paper on Metromachy (History, Reconstruction, Translation) -- Written in French, including a translation of the Latin primary source into French. (Sadly for us English monoglots.) (more)
Cardano on Tables Games (Transcription, Translation) -- A transcription and translation of the relevant sections from Cardano's Liber de Ludo Aleae. (more)
Description at The History of Chess (Reconstruction, History, Transcription, Translation) -- (more)
FitzStephen's Description of London (Overview, Translation) -- A 12th century Latin account of London life, including vague references to various recreations. (more)
Games listed in Gargantua (1653) (Translation) -- From Urquhart's English translation of 1653. Tallied by Jay Cross; note that this list has been alphabetized, and has a few linguistic notes. (more)
Irving Finkel's detailed reconstruction of the game (History, Reconstruction, Translation) -- A more-than-typically detailed writeup of the game, the available source material, and how to interpret it. (more)
On the Explanation of Chess and Backgammon (History, Transcription, Translation, Facsimile) -- A medieval Persian source, describing how Chess came to Persia and how "backgammon" (games within the Tables) was invented. (more)
Roselyne's translation of Astronomical Games (Translation) -- An early translation of a chunk of the Alfonso MS, done by a friend of mine. (more)
Sonja Musser Golladay's dissertation on the Alfonso MS (hardcopy) (Overview, History, Translation, Reconstruction) -- This link is a search into University Microfilms' dissertation service. Golladay's dissertation is the masterwork on the Alfonso MS, including a full translation, copious notes and reconstruction details, and all sorts of information about the art and culture surrounding the book. It is a must-have for anyone researching this text. (more)
Sonja Musser Golladay's Dissertation on the Alfonso MS (PDF) (Overview, Reconstruction, History, Transcription, Translation) -- A PDF copy of the full, 1400-page tome about the Alfonso. This is the single most important source when working on this MS, including a full translation, lots of notes and reconstruction details, information about the culture and context, and so on. (more)
The Alfonso MS, in English (Translation) -- This large PDF (about 5MB) combines an early draft of Sonja Musser Golladay's translation of the Alfonso with some of the facsimiles from Charles Knutson, to make a solidly usable source for reconstruction. (more)
The Wikipedia page on Harpastum (History, Translation) -- (more)
Vida's Scacchia Ludus (Transcription, Translation) -- A transcription of a 16th century Latin poem about a chess game between the gods. Also, a full translation on a separate page. (more)