Thats neat as Hell
Chess in the Year 1616
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I think it's called, the first book of chess, or the first chess book in proper English. At least that's what is says at the top of every page.
There also seems to be quite some latin writing
From what I can see, the whole thing seems to be divided into four books – each of which has several chapters – and one appendix.
Book one seems to be about the history of chess as well as the rules. Book two has mating patterns, strategy and tactics, as well as a little bit on openings. Book three and four seem to consist mostly of opening analysis and game citations. The appendix is all about chess variants.
At least that's what I understand at the moment. I wish I had the time to give it a proper read, but the language, the weird notation and the fact that you have to scroll back and forth to see the diagrams (which are also hard to read because they use letters instead of symbols) make it extremely time-consuming as well as somewhat tiring.
Here's a little something that a friend of mine sent me. The chess historians among you might find this interesting:
The Bavarian State Library in Germany has digitized one of their oldest books on chess, first published in 1616. You can take a look here (note the PDF-download button in the upper right hand corner). It's written in oldish German and set in blackletter, so it's a bit tedious to read, but what I found particularly interesting is the chess variants that are described towards the end. They include what I think is supposed to be Courier Chess and something truly bizarre looking with two boards and numbered geometrical shapes for pieces that I've never seen before.