Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Art of Play: The Travellers of Europe, with Improvements and Additions, 1849

This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum


Board games have been around for centuries. Here’s one from 1849 which was made in Britain. Five players were assigned the parts of “The Travellers,” who are from different nations, Austria, Sweden, Russia, Prussia and England. The travelers then must make their way to their respective capital cities beginning from a different city in Africa, or, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The game was played with a spinner with four sides marked N,S,E,W representing the directions they must move in.


Actually, this is a later edition of the game entitled `The Travellers: or, a “Tour Through Europe,” which was issued on December 1st 1842. The set includes its original rule book which is inscribed in ink inside the front cover, “Mary Crewdson Cowherd from her Aunt Henry Fox Octr. 28, 1854.”

No comments: