Forbidden by the Spanish Inquisition in 1559: a popular quiz game on the fundamental questions of life
Libro del Juego de las Suertes

Libro del Juego de las Suertes
The Italian poet Lorenzo Spirito Gualtieri (1426–96) is credited by reasearchers as the author of this fun work
It is a game wherein the participants guess the answers to a set of primary questions about life
This Valencian print from 1515, is based on a 1502 Milanese edition once owned by Ferdinand Columbus (1488–1539)
Libro del Juego de las Suertes
Short Description
Parlor games were popular during the Middle Ages and ranged from board games like Chess to card games and even fortune-telling games. In 1559, the Book of the Game of Luck was among the second group of texts to added to the Índice de libros prohibidos, the “Index of Forbidden Books” established by the Spanish Inquisition in 1551 as a reaction to the rise of secular Renaissance literature. Nonetheless, the work enjoyed great popularity before it was banned and appeared in numerous translations, including the Valencian specimen at hand.
Libro del Juego de las Suertes
The so-called Book of the Game of Luck contains a game wherein the participants guess the answers to a set of primary questions about life, the point of which inter alia is to avoid doing nothing. This is all explained in the book’s prologue, which also informs the reader that these answers are nonsense. Although the author is unnamed, research indicates that the Italian poet Lorenzo Spirito Gualtieri (1426–96) was responsible for the work. The current Valencian specimen, which is adorned with detailed and instructive full-page woodcuts, was published on July 1st, 1528. The original manuscript of Libro della ventura, ovvero Libro delle sorti was created in Vicenza in the 1480’s with Italian editions being produced through the mid–16th century, as well as some 16th century French editions. A Castilian-language edition from 1502 in Milan and owned by Ferdinand Columbus (1488–1539), son of the great explorer and famous bibliophile, was reedited in the Valencian workshop of Jorge Costilla in 1515. It came into the Biblioteca de la Real Academia de la Historia in Madrid along with the collection of Antonio Rodríguez Moñino and María Brey, while the 1528 edition at hand, along with another unicum from 1535, are housed in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna.
Codicology
- Style
- Genre
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „Libro del Juego de las Suertes“
Libro del Juego de las Suertes
- Publisher
- Vicent Garcia Editores – Valencia, 2006
- More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
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