[Backgammon] Principes du jeu de trictrac,

a la portée des commençans. Avec une table alphabétique des termes de ce jeu/ Règles du trictrac a écrire. Paris, Fournier, n.d. (c. 1780). 2 parts in 1 vol., 69,(1),(2 blank); 42 p., plain contemp. threadbound blue wrapper, 12mo.

Sl. dogeared, but a very good and fair untrimmed copy. Cat. Chamonal, 1990, no. 199 (the first part only); not in Gumuchian. Very rare chapbook edition of the rules of the game, with a vocabulary of the terms and a variant in which the winning points are noted down after each move instead of only at the end of the game. The game of backgammon or trictrac gained popularity in France in the 18th century, the richly illustrated manual of Abbé Soumille (first edition 1735) was an important guide at the time. The publisher of our edition explains that illustrations only teach the eye; he advises aspiring players to find a friend who owns the game and learn while playing it with him.