The Compleat Gamester, first published in 1674, is one of the earliest known English-language games
compendia. It was published anonymously, but later attributed to
Charles Cotton (1630–1687). Further editions appeared in the period up to 1754 before it was eclipsed by Mr. Hoyle's Games by
Edmond Hoyle (1672–1769).
History
The game of trucks
In the mid-17th century, game literature in England took off. Initially these were translations of French books, for example on
Piquet, but later more original publications appeared. The most successful of these was The Compleat Gamester, which was first published anonymously in 1674, but was attributed during the 18th century to Charles Cotton.[1][a]
Contents
The 1674 edition included instructions on how to play "all manner of usual and most gentile games either on
cards or
dice," as well as "the arts and mysteries" of
riding,
racing,
archery and
cock-fighting.[2]
^The full citation is "
Cotgrave's rules for card games were themselves cribbed by the most successful of the seventeenth-century English treatises on games, The Compleat Gamester, which first appeared anonymously in 1674; in the eighteenth century it was attributed to Charles Cotton."