The Game of the French Revolution

The traditional goose squares are represented by the parliamentarians satirized as geese. The final and victorious square declares that ‘The happiness of France is signed on the September 14, 1791 by Louis XVI, first constitutional king of France’, with a view of the Assemblée Nationale.

On the back of the game, we see evidence of a prior owner practicing his/ her penmanship. The manuscript inscription in ink includes repetitions of the words, ‘Monnais de Hollande’ and the letter ‘A’. Also included are the names of characters from Molière’s play, ‘Le Médecin Malgré Lui’, a fare about a drunken man who is made to play the role of a doctor, first performed in 1666. Molière’s popularity reached new heights at the beginning of the 19th century. According to the CESAR database, the play was performed 39 times in Paris in 1791 alone, including a number of times at the Lycée Dramatique.

Rachel Jacobs, 2021

Other exhibition labels

• This game based on the format of the game of the goose, captures an optimistic moment during the French Revolution. The game begins with the Storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the subsequent squares describe major events from the French revolution.
• The traditional goose squares are represented by the parliamentarians satirized as geese. The final and victorious square declares that ‘The happiness of France is signed on the September 14, 1791 by Louis XVI, first constitutional king of France’, with a view of the Assemblée Nationale.
• On the back of the game, we see evidence of a prior owner practicing his/ her penmanship. The manuscript inscription in ink includes repetitions of the words, ‘Monnais de Hollande’ and the letter ‘A’. Also included are the names of characters from Molière’s play, ‘Le Médecin Malgré Lui’, a fare about a drunken man who is made to play the role of a doctor, first performed in 1666. Molière’s popularity reached new heights at the beginning of the 19th century. According to the CESAR database, the play was performed 39 times in Paris in 1791 alone, including a number of times at the Lycée Dramatique.
• Rachel Jacobs, 2021

Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)

532 x 725

Physical details

image and text size: 502 x 650 (sheet trimmed to or within plate mark)

Signature & date

lower margin: se trouve à Paris, rue des Mathurins, N. 18, et chez les M ds de nouveauté de Paris et en Province, chez les Libraires et M d'Estampes.

Transcription

Jeu de la Révolution Francaise
Regle que l'on doit observer dans ce jeu

Il faut premierement convenir de ce que l'on veut jouer et de ce que l'on doit payer aux rencontres ou accident ce jeu est composé de 63 nombres celui qui le premier arrive a ce nombre gagne le jeu mais on rencontre bien des empêchements avant d'arriver au nombre 63 ou est l'Assemblée Nationale.
On joue avec deux Dez on tire au sort a qui commencera, celui qui a le plus haut point joue le premier et porte une marque sur le nombre qui repond au Dez et les autres jouent en suite en observant que chaque joueur ait une marque differente. Il faut observer que si le nombre tombe juste sur une oye il faut recommencer a compter le meme nombre jusqu'a ce que l'on en trouve plus mais celui qui auroit plis de points qu'il n'en faudroit pour arriver au nombre 63 retourneroit en arriere en commencant a compter en retrogradant et s;il tomboit sur une Oye il recommencreroit a compter toujours en retrograndant. Si en commencant la partie quelqu'un faisoit le nombre 9 qui peut se faire de deux manieres par 5 et 4 et 6 et 3 iroit juste au nombre 63 attendu qu'il se trouve des oyes de 9 en 9; ainsi celui qui fera 6 et 3 ira au nombre 26 et qui fera 5 et 4 ira au nombre 53.

Regle du Jeu de la Révolution Française
Qui fera 6 ou est le Pont payera le prix convenu et ira au nombre 12. Qui ira au nombre 19 ou est le Caveau payera le prix convenu et se reposera tandis que chacun jouera deux fois. Qui ira au nombre 31 ou est le Puits payera le prix convenu y restera jusqu'a ce qu'un autre le releve et ira a la place de celui qui l'aura relevé. Qui ira u nombre 42 ou est Labyrinthe ou le Chatelet payera le prox convenu et ira au nombre 30
Qui ira au nombre 52 ou est la Prison de l'Abbaye payera le prox convenu et y restera jusqu'a ce qu'un autre l'en retire.
Qui ira au nombre 58 ou est la mort de Foulon etc. payera le prix convenu et recommencera de nouveau.
Qui sera rencontré par un des joueurs payera le prix convenu et ira a sa place.

Translation

Game of the French Revolution
Rules which must be followed for this game

One must firstly decide on what one wants to play and what must be paid at meetings and accidents. This game is made of 63 squares, the first to arrive at this number wins the game but one encounters many obstacles before reaching number 63, the National Assembly.
We play with two dice, we draw lots to decide who goes first, the one with the highest point plays first and places a marker on the square which corresponds to the roll of the dice and the others play as follows whilst observing that each player plays with a different marker. One must follow that if the number rolled falls directly onto a goose, one has to count the same number again until one no longer lands on a goose but the one who has rolled more than the number needed to arrive squarely on number 63 will move backwards, counting out the remainder of the roll and if one lands on a goose, one doubles the number, continuing to move backwards. If one begins the game by rolling a 9, which can be done two ways, by the 5 and 4 or the 6 and 3, would move forward straight to the number 63 because the goose are spaced at every 9 therefore the one who has 6 and 3 moves to the number 26 and the one who has 5 and 4 moves to number 53.
Rules of the Game of the French Revolution
Whoever rolls the 6, the bridge (le pont de la liberte, The bridge of freedom) , pays the decided price and goes to number 12( Les Juifs declares citoyens en suivant les lois) (The Jews are declared citizens by following the laws). Whoever lands on number 19, Le Caveau (Les aristocrates au cafe du Caveau) (The aristocrates at the cafe du Caveau), pays the decided price and rests whilst the others play two turns. Who goes to number 31, the ditch (au diable les Rats de cave), pays the decided price and remains until someone else comes to relieve him, and goes to the place of the one who takes his place. Whoever lands on number 42, the Labyrinth or the Chatelet (Le Chatelet de Paris) pays the decided pric and goes to number 30(Egalite des poids de mesure). Whoever lands on 52, the prison of the Abbey pays the decided price and stays until another relieves him. Whoever lands on number 58, death of Foulon etc. pays the decided price and restarts the game. Whoever is met by other players pays the decided price and goes takes their place.

Language

French

Provenance

• Probably acquied by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (b.1839, d.1898); by descent to his sister Miss Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); by descent to her great-nephew Mr James de Rothschild (b. 1878, d.1957); bequeathed to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1957.

Collection

• Waddesdon (National Trust)

Bibliography

• Henry R D'Allemagne; Le Noble Jeu de l'Oie; Paris; Gründ; 1950; p. 214; discusses another copy of the print
• Alain René Girard, Claude Quétel; L'histoire de France racontée par le jeu de l'oie; Paris; 1982; pl. 47; illustrates another copy of the game
• Le jeu de l'oie au musée du jouet; Poissy; 2000
• Rachel Jacobs, Playing, learning, flirting: printed board games from eighteenth-century France at Waddesdon Manor, The Ephemerist: Journal of the Ephemera Society, 2012, 15-22; p. 22, ill. 10; illustrated the verso of the game
• Adrian Seville, The Rothschild Collection of Printed Board Games at Waddesdon Manor, Le Vieux Papier, 2012, 434-444; Phillippa Plock

Related files

• • http://www.giochidelloca.it/scheda.php?id=463 another copy of the game [accessed 26 March 2009]
  • http://www.giochidelloca.it/scheda.php?id=463 another copy of the game [accessed 26 March 2009]

Subject person

• Assemblée Nationale Constituante, Pictured
• Joseph Foulon, Pictured
• Louis XVI of France, Pictured

Person as Subject

• Assemblée Nationale Constituante (estab. 1789, closed 1791)
• Foulon, Joseph (b.1715, d.1789)
• Louis XVI of France (b.1754, d.1793)

Subjects

• Architecture/Buildings - Specific/Bastille, Paris
• Work & Occupations/Governance & Public Administration