Antique St George chess set presented in a folding book/box which is leather bound with a chess board on the external faces and a backgammon board inside; the chess set is missing one white pawn, otherwise the set is complete and in good condition. The case appears as two leather bound volumes with the legend 'Wild Sports vol' 1 & vol' 2' on the 'spines', there is external wear to the box, in particular to  edges and corners, internally the box has little wear. The set dates from the late 19th or early 20th century.
The St George style pieces were named after the St. George's chess club in London who used this style for play in their club activities.  
 
This set would have originated in a well to do household with a library, probably a country house, part of the appeal would have been the idea of storing the set with other leather bound volumes.  The King stands 9cm (3.54")high and the box when open measures 45 x 50cm (17.75" x 19.69") and the chess board squares are each  4.3cm (1.75").
 
There is a story that games were considered to be an unsuitable pastime by the church, particularly on a Sunday and so the idea of keeping games disguised as books achieved another purpose besides the purely decorative, easily accessible, hidden from sight and quickly and easily put out of view of the visiting clergy.