[The New and Fashionable Game of the Jew]
![[The New and Fashionable Game of the Jew]](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/606/709/1715709606.0.x.jpg)
- SIGNED
- London: J. Wallis; M. Dunnett; J. Wallis, junior, 1807
London: J. Wallis; M. Dunnett; J. Wallis, junior, 1807. Very good +. Engraved game sheet (47 by 40 cm), sectioned into 12 fields, mounted on folded linen sheet: 10 numbered fields (2-6, 8-12) surround an engraved, hand-colored illustration of the Jew (field 7); directions appear in field 10, at head of sheet. Mild staining; publisher's imprint along bottom edge of field 10 trimmed, with some loss. Else about fine, with bold coloring. Housed in old marbled paper slipcase.
A notable example of a popular early modern board game, here with an anti-Semitic motif. Possibly originating as a drinking game in Southern Germany in the late 15th century, it is played with two six-sided dice on boards with fields numbered 2-12, often with a central or accentuated number 7. The numbered compartments on the board are used for placing stakes. Often fashioned in fine parquetry, many examples of such game boards survive from the 17th- and 18th centuries; according to Jonas Richter the earliest surviving board is dated to the turn of the 15th century. The 1733 edition of the anonymous Palamedes Redivivus -- an early modern game manual, first published at Leipzig in 1678 -- contains the earliest set of rules for this kind of game, referred to in the text as "Böse-Sieben-Spiel" (Villain's Game of Seven). The earliest rules to appear on a printed paper game sheet, as in the present case, are found in "Der Siebener Trinckt," printed by Albrecht Schmidt at Augsburg, ca. 1740.
Such games are now often categorized under the recent German term Glückshaus (Lucky House), although Richter suggests that Games of Seven might be better designation as the early modern names often refer to the central number 7, the most common throw yielded by a pair of six-sided dice: Der Siebener Trinckt (the seven drinks); Zevenzot (Fool of Seven). Other early names refer to the central graphic element on the board, as the Dutch Arlequinspel (Harlequin game) and the Italian Gioco della Barca (Game of the Boat). The present version invokes the cliché of Jewish usury and avarice, in the form of a Jew clothed in an elaborate robe and turban, seated before a table arrayed with bags of gold coins, within a tent suggestive of an exotic eastern locale. First appearing in the late 18th century in France (Jeu du Juif), later versions of the Game of the Jew were published in the Netherlands (Het nieuw vermakelyk Spel, gevolgt na 't Fransch, genaamt de Jood - the New and Entertaining Game, after the French, called The Jew), Spain (Juego de los Judios) and, as in the present case, England.
Directions for Playing (noted in field 10): "1. This Game is played either with a pair of Dice or with a Totum marked on 12 sides, and any number of Persons may play. 2. Each player must be provided with two Dozen Counters, which they may value as they please. 3. In order to know who begins the Game, let each Person throw and whoever has the highest Number is first Player. 4. Every player at the commencement of the Game puts down seven Counters on the Jew. 5. Whoever throws first must put down as many Counters as the Number thrown, and on that Number they must be placed. 6. The second Person who throws does the same, and so on; but if any Player throws the same Number (seven excepted) as a former one, he is to take up the Counters placed on that Number, and the next Player proceeds. 7. Every one who throws seven must deposit as many Counters on the Jew and these are not to be taken up until some one throws twelve, who clears the board. 8. Any person throwing before the last Player has put down or taken up his Number of Counters, shall forfeit seven to the Jew, and throw over again. N.B. If by chance one or both of the Dice fall off the Table, the Player may throw again." Full publisher's imprint: Published May 27th, 1807, by J. Wallis, no. 15, Warwick Square : M. Dunnett, no. 3, Cheapside : And J. Wallis, junr, no. 188, Strand.
References: T. Depaulis, "Jeux de hasard sur paper: les 'loteries' de salon," Le Vieux Papier, 303/304 (1987): 183-195; 225-233; J. Richter, "The Game of Seven: Glückshaus and Related Dice Games," Board Game Studies Journal 13 (2019), pp. 67-97; A. Seville, "La nouvelle combinaison du jeu du juif un intrigant jeu dés imprimé du xviie siècle," Le Vieux Papier, 410 (2013): 175-188; OCLC: 33894336, noting title from engraved pictorial label on slipcase.
A notable example of a popular early modern board game, here with an anti-Semitic motif. Possibly originating as a drinking game in Southern Germany in the late 15th century, it is played with two six-sided dice on boards with fields numbered 2-12, often with a central or accentuated number 7. The numbered compartments on the board are used for placing stakes. Often fashioned in fine parquetry, many examples of such game boards survive from the 17th- and 18th centuries; according to Jonas Richter the earliest surviving board is dated to the turn of the 15th century. The 1733 edition of the anonymous Palamedes Redivivus -- an early modern game manual, first published at Leipzig in 1678 -- contains the earliest set of rules for this kind of game, referred to in the text as "Böse-Sieben-Spiel" (Villain's Game of Seven). The earliest rules to appear on a printed paper game sheet, as in the present case, are found in "Der Siebener Trinckt," printed by Albrecht Schmidt at Augsburg, ca. 1740.
Such games are now often categorized under the recent German term Glückshaus (Lucky House), although Richter suggests that Games of Seven might be better designation as the early modern names often refer to the central number 7, the most common throw yielded by a pair of six-sided dice: Der Siebener Trinckt (the seven drinks); Zevenzot (Fool of Seven). Other early names refer to the central graphic element on the board, as the Dutch Arlequinspel (Harlequin game) and the Italian Gioco della Barca (Game of the Boat). The present version invokes the cliché of Jewish usury and avarice, in the form of a Jew clothed in an elaborate robe and turban, seated before a table arrayed with bags of gold coins, within a tent suggestive of an exotic eastern locale. First appearing in the late 18th century in France (Jeu du Juif), later versions of the Game of the Jew were published in the Netherlands (Het nieuw vermakelyk Spel, gevolgt na 't Fransch, genaamt de Jood - the New and Entertaining Game, after the French, called The Jew), Spain (Juego de los Judios) and, as in the present case, England.
Directions for Playing (noted in field 10): "1. This Game is played either with a pair of Dice or with a Totum marked on 12 sides, and any number of Persons may play. 2. Each player must be provided with two Dozen Counters, which they may value as they please. 3. In order to know who begins the Game, let each Person throw and whoever has the highest Number is first Player. 4. Every player at the commencement of the Game puts down seven Counters on the Jew. 5. Whoever throws first must put down as many Counters as the Number thrown, and on that Number they must be placed. 6. The second Person who throws does the same, and so on; but if any Player throws the same Number (seven excepted) as a former one, he is to take up the Counters placed on that Number, and the next Player proceeds. 7. Every one who throws seven must deposit as many Counters on the Jew and these are not to be taken up until some one throws twelve, who clears the board. 8. Any person throwing before the last Player has put down or taken up his Number of Counters, shall forfeit seven to the Jew, and throw over again. N.B. If by chance one or both of the Dice fall off the Table, the Player may throw again." Full publisher's imprint: Published May 27th, 1807, by J. Wallis, no. 15, Warwick Square : M. Dunnett, no. 3, Cheapside : And J. Wallis, junr, no. 188, Strand.
References: T. Depaulis, "Jeux de hasard sur paper: les 'loteries' de salon," Le Vieux Papier, 303/304 (1987): 183-195; 225-233; J. Richter, "The Game of Seven: Glückshaus and Related Dice Games," Board Game Studies Journal 13 (2019), pp. 67-97; A. Seville, "La nouvelle combinaison du jeu du juif un intrigant jeu dés imprimé du xviie siècle," Le Vieux Papier, 410 (2013): 175-188; OCLC: 33894336, noting title from engraved pictorial label on slipcase.