The mirror of truth , Jany. 1st, 1811
- Title(s):
- The mirror of truth : exhibiting a variety of biographical anecdotes and moral essays : calculated to inspire a love of virtue and abhorrence of vice.
- Published/Created:
- London : Published ... by John Wallis, at his Juvenile Repository, no. 13 Warwick Square ..., Jany. 1st, 1811.
- Physical Description:
- 1 game : hand-colored engraving ; sheet 46 x 57 cm, folded to 19 x 16 cm and 47, [1] pages ; 17 cm
- Holdings:
- Rare Books and ManuscriptsGV1199 .M57 1811Yale Center for British Art, Gift of Ellen and Arthur Liman, Yale JD 1957[Request]
- Copyright Status:
- Copyright Not Evaluated
- Full Orbis Record:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/13688532
- Classification:
- Three-Dimensional Artifacts
- Notes:
- Title from game board.
Mounted in 9 sections on a single folded sheet of linen. The game board comprises 44 panels in two concentric tracks, leading to center medallion number 45, described in the instruction book as "The Temple of Happiness." "Rules of the game" are printed in the center of board.
At head of game board: "A new game for the instruction of youth of both sexes."
Liman, E. Georgian and Victorian board games, pages 34-35
Whitehouse, F.R.B. Table games of Georgian and Victorian days, page 49
Jones, D. Toy with the idea, 77
Osborne Collection of early children's books, 1566-1910, page 223
Selected exhibitions: "Instruction and Delight: Children's Games from the Ellen and Arthur Liman Collection" (Yale Center for British Art, 17 January-23 May, 2019).
BAC: British Art Center copy with the original instruction booklet and slipcase.
This moralizing game attempted to teach children how to live a virtuous life despite the attraction of a full range of vices (including, but not limited to, intemperance, idleness, selfishness, lying, envy, hypocrisy, passion, and pride). The author of the accompanying booklet notes that "the chief object ... has been to combine information with amusement, and present to youth a means of employing those hours in a rational and delightful manner”--hours “usually devoted to the pernicious science of [playing] cards." Players read stories associated with each numbered square, “selected from the Pages of History, unembellished by the hand of Fiction,” providing “examples for imitation; whither they will perceive the path of virtue can alone conduct them,” that would lead them eventually to the Temple of Happiness at the center (45). - Subject Terms:
- Conduct of life.Liman, Ellen and Arthur -- Provenance.
- Form/Genre:
- Games -- Great Britain.
Recreations -- Great Britain.
Board games.
Engravings -- Hand-colored -- 1811. - Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON
Instruction and Delight: Children's Games from the Ellen and Arthur Liman Collection (Yale Center for British Art, January 17, 2019-May 23, 2019) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]
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