Introduction

This chapter provides a number of distinct avenues to the text to assist the concerns of different readers. It offers a biographical account, locating the work in the broader context of Francis Willughby's intellectual interests, his methodology, abilities, and associations with contemporary men of scientific inclinations, both eminent and amateur. The chapter provides an analysis of the text itself, its origins, and its place in Willughby's other works. It describes the history of games literature and comments on its relevance for Willughby's study. The chapter explores the scope of the Book of Games through a survey of associated aspects of the wider intellectual and cultural scene. The result poses a particular challenge in approaching Willughby's Book of Games, a work which apparently lacks any mention in the surviving correspondence of his circle and which has, rather surprisingly, been largely unremarked by modern commentators. The chapter concludes with a tabulated chronology of the main events in Willughby's life.