h contains
the Game of Chess in verse.

"Mes si d'esbat te prent tallant,
Pren ton esbat deuement;
Mes si a jouer vieulx attendre,
Un noble jou te faulte attendre,
C'est des echecs qui est licite
Et a touz bien les gens incite."

The author has concealed his name with an ingenuity that has so far
defied penetration.

"Nommez mon nom et mon surnom,
Je ey escript tout environ,
A vingt et dous lettres sans plus,
Sera trouve cy au dessus
En enscript, et sans plus ne moins."

On this it is only necesiary to quote the remarks of a French
critic:--"Ou ne nous dit pas si c'est dans la suite meme de la phrase,
ou seulement en acrosticke, que se trouvent les vingt-deux lettres de
ces nom mysterieux. Nous ne saurions former aucun nom avec les initiales
des trente vers qui precedent ceux que nous venons de citer; et le
merite de l'ouvrage ne nous encourage pas a faire des longues recherches
pour decouvrir un nom que l'auteur a pris plaisir a nous cacher."[13]

The bulk of Caxton's work is undoubtedly from the French translation of
Jehan de Vignay, whose dedication to Prince John of France has simply
been transformed into a similar address to the Duke of Clarence. He
styles De Vignay "an excellent doctor of the order of the Hospital of
St. John's of Jerusalem." This is the only authority we have for
supposing De Vignay to be connected with that order. He styles himself
"hospitaller de l'ordre de haut pas," which was situated in the Faubourg
St. Jacques of Paris. It is curious that two members of the same
order--for Ferron was also a Jacobin--should independently have occupied
themselves with the same work. The version by De Vignay was probably the
later of the two, and it was also the most popular, for whilst Ferron's
is still unprinted, that of De Vignay has been frequently re-issued from
the press. The work is dedicated to Jean de France, Duc de Normandie,
who became king in 1350. It will be seen from this that these two French
versions were practically contemporaneous.

The prologue to the book is as follows:--"A Tres noble & excellent
prince Jehan de france duc de normendie & auisne filz de philipe par le
grace de dieu Roy de france. Frere Jehan de vignay vostre petit
Religieux entre les autres de vostre seignorie/ paix sante Joie &
victoire sur vos ennemis. Treschier & redoubte seign'r/ pour ce que Jay
entendu et scay que vous veez & ouez volentiers choses proffitables &
hon