Board and Table Game Antiques

Amongst the collectable items to be found in antique shops and stalls ae board and table games and objects pertaining to them, which may not be easily recognised out of context. As well as the familiar chess, draughts and ludo, a variety of games has beenmanufactured commercially since the eighteenth century. Many nineteenth-century children's games had an educational slant and the stern moral attitude of the Victorians is emphasised by their preference for spinners over dice. Game boards, boxes for the accessories and card cases were often hand-crafted and beautifully decorated and the pieces might be ivory. This book illustrates many board games, as well as dice, dominoes, mahjong and playing cards, and describes some techniques of construction. R. C. Bell is the author of a number of books including Board and Table Games from Many Civilisations, which won the Premier Award of the Doctors' Hobbies Exhibition (1959) in London. Other titles for Shire by this author are: Discovering Backgammon (currently out of print)Bell, R. C. is the author of 'Board and Table Game Antiques', published 1997 under ISBN 9780852635384 and ISBN 0852635389.