Book of Chess, Its Problems, and Its Subtleties

A vertical photograph shows the fore-edge of the closed manuscript. The book is bound in dark reddish-brown leather, which is visible on the left and right sides of the page block. The edges of the paper are aged. They show a dense vertical texture of off-white and tan pages with some darker staining and foxing, which are spots or marks caused by age and moisture. The binding shows signs of wear at the top and bottom corners.

Technical Terms

• fore-edge: The outer edge of the book pages opposite the spine. In some luxury manuscripts, this area was painted or gilded.
• leather binding: A protective cover made from processed animal hide. This was the standard for high-quality medieval books.
• book block: The complete set of gathered and sewn pages of a book, excluding the covers.
• manuscript: A book or document written by hand. The term comes from the Latin words for "hand" and "written."