(Dice thus make a somewhat unusual appearance in a children’s game of this era, in lieu of a teetotum spinner - dice generally being shunned in children’s activities games for being associated with gambling and the unsavory world of vice. Unfortunately, the Cotsen copy of the the game arrived without the illustrated box it originally came in, six little hand-painted lead playing pieces (modeled on characters in the novel: Phileas Fogg, his servant Passepartout, etc.), currency tokens, dice, and dice cup. But I think a 50+ year run of publication and re-publication certainly suggests a popular item! Cotsen’s game board seems to be a relatively early version, based on the form of the title, the printer’s dates, and particularly a chronology of versions posted online. (Verne’s novel first appeared in print in 1872.) With children’s books and games, it’s always hard to know how much items’ sales connote their actual appeal to children themselves, since adults were generally the ones making the purchases. “Très amusant”… Description and rules of the game.Ĭotsen’s game-board seems to be one of at least 8 different versions of the game issued by various publishers between 18, an apparent testament to successful sales and ongoing popularity with children and/or grown-ups. After 1900, another Roches Frères published in Avignon until 1911 or so - maybe the firm moved? (Research also turned up a third, earlier firm named “Roches Frères,” this one publishing in New Orleans from about 1813 into the early 1820s, presumably a different entity altogether, but so far I can’t say so definitely). I’m still looking for information about the Paris firm Roches Frères, but the they seem to have been active in Paris from the 1880s through 1900, based on the dates of other of their publications cataloged by other libraries. Roches Frères has added the imprint of their Paris printing house on the bottom left of the board, in the white margin, but it’s a little hard to see in the above photo (a better view is in a photo below). 1880?) – Cotsen new acquisition.Ĭotsen’s version of the game-board isn’t itself titled, but the caption title I used to catalog the item comes from the accompanying four-page printed instruction and rule booklet. The number of days depends on the travel cards used, plus help from special cards, hindrance from the meandering detective, and so on.Game Board for “Le Voyage Autour du Monde en 80 jours : D’apres le Roman de Jules Verne : Jeu de Société” by Roches Frères (Paris, ca. Time is spent each step of the way in the form of days, and (while meeting certain other requirements), the winner is the player who spends the fewest number of days getting around the world. For example, 2 ship cards are required to travel from Suez to Bombay, so 2 ship cards must be played train cards won't help in this instance. The two transportation types are trains and ships. Does he want to wait until the next round in hopes of better cards, or will he make his journey now? If so, he must have and play the required travel cards. Then he decides whether travel to the next city. Each card comes with an extra (getting to be first player in the next round, for example). On a player's turn, he chooses one of the face-up travel cards. Following in Jules Verne's footsteps, players attempt to travel around the world in 80 days on a map with Victorian-era decorations.
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