Chess or the King's Game

Chess or the King's Game is a book on chess. It was published in Leipzig in 1616 under the name of Gustavus Selenus, the pen name of Duke Augustus of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1579–1666). As a young prince, Augustus probably had learned of the game during his voyages to Italy and purchased numerous chess books from the Augsburg merchant and art collector Philipp Hainhofer. The first textbook on chess in the German language, the work is mainly based on the Libro de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del axedrez written in 1561 by the Spanish priest Ruy López de Segura, but also contains extensive philosophical and historical considerations.