Marble Solitaire Game

There is much in literature about the history of Marble and Peg Solitaires. The French engraving of Princess de Soubise on the left showing her playing the game, dates from 1697. Legend says that Solitaire was invented by Pelisson, a French mathematician, to entertain Louis XIV - known as "Roi Soleil" (Sun King).

Another legend says that a misfortunate French nobleman, while imprisoned in the Bastille, devised the game using a Fox & Geese Board (the Fox & Geese Board has been used for a variety of board games in Northern Europe since the Vikings). There is doubt about these legends, since Ovide wrote about the game and described it in his book "Ars Amatoria". In fact, people in Europe rediscovered Solitaire around the XIIth century with a game called "Al-qirq" (the mill, in Arabic), which later became the game of "Alquerque" . Mathematicians like Leibniz and Edouard Lucas have written interesting essays about this humble game.
Peg Solitaire is named Solitaire in French, Solitario alla francese in Italian, Resta um in Portuguese, Solitär or Solohalma in German, Solitaris in Lituanian, Samotnik in Polish, and 孔明棋 in Chinese...