Beschreibung:

The New Game of Human Life, with Rules for Playing: being the most Agreeable & Rational Recreation ever Invented for Youth of both Sexes, Published July 29. 1790, [slipcase title], hand-coloured engraving, in 16 sections mounted on linen, with imprint dated July 14 1790, lightly toned and a little dusty, a few marks and a few lines of text rubbed, 47 x 68.5cm (18.5 x 27ins), contained in original card slipcase, front with oval engraved title label and faint initials in ink dated 1830, edges worn, with small losses Whitehouse pp.46-47. Scarce table game. Eighty-four counter places are marked in a spiral, taking the players through the seven stages of life from infancy to dotage. Manhood commences at 13 years and old age at 49! It was intended that during the course of the game young players would navigate the paths of vice and virtue, so that the game would thereby instruct and inform the impressionable mind. Players advance or forfeit according to the moralistic nature of the character represented in the square they land on. The Assiduous Youth or Benevolent Man, for instance, allowed players to advance, while the Drunkard or Negligent Boy forced players to lose a turn or to move backward. The game illustrates late-eighteenth century social values assigned to various careers. Landing on The Romance Writer, for instance, sends the player back to The Mischievous Boy. Similarly, The Dramatist forces the player to begin the game again. A warning from the manufacturer of the game points out the dangers of introducing dice into the family home and recommends the use of a spinning top called a totum or teetotum rather than a game piece so closely associated with gambling and vice. (1)