The game of the chesse
The Game of the Chesse is a 1855 London reprint by Vincent Figgins of William Caxton's 1474 English translation of Jacobus de Cessolis's moralised treatise on chess, itself drawn from Jean de Vignay's French version, aimed at readers interested in incunabula and the history of the game. The woodcuts show medieval figures in hoods and long gowns: a rider on a horse, a man weighing coins at a balance, a pair exchanging goods before a stone doorway, and two scholars seated either side of an open book. Their plain outlines and hatched shading suggest a direct, economical style for designers wanting late medieval woodcut character.
