Société des Jeux et Jouets Français
Le Tour du Monde en 80 Jours d'après le Roman de Jules Verne
[Around the World in 80 Days after the Novel by Jules Verne]
Imprimerie Roche Frères, Paris [printer]: c. 1904-15
Chromolithograph game board
Folds, as dissected in four parts and mounted on card
19 x 21.75 inches, open
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.
Around the World in 80 Days after the Novel by Jules Verne
Chromolithograph game board, Paris: c. 1904-15
Chromolithograph game board, Paris: c. 1904-15
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A game board representing scenes, particularly of world travel, based on Jules Verne's 1872 novel, Around the World in 80 Days. Vignette illustrations numbered from 1 to 80, captioned in French and arranged counterclockwise, encircle a representation of a world globe and jungle background.
Set in Victorian England, Verne's novel tells the story of adventurer Phileas Fogg, who bets fellow members of the Reform Club in London that he could make a round-the-world trip in record time. The first two numbered blocks on the game board depict Fogg and his French assistant, Jean Passepartout, as they leave London. The final four “blocks” are the corner areas in between the smaller illustrations; in numbers 79 and 80 Fogg, upon his return to the Reform Club in London, points to a clock to emphasize that he's returned on time, and meets his fellow members to collect his winnings.
The game manufactured in the early 20th century, includes some anachronisms such as the game block illustration of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor (dedicated in 1886 many years after Verne’s 1872 book). Other sites in America illustrated in game blocks include a view of Chicago streets, and cable cars in San Francisco. The diverse illustrations also include a Japanese juggler and the Suez Canal (opened in 1869). The illustration numbered 77 bears the monogram "JFJ" of the manufacturer, the Société des Jeux et Jouets Français, a consortium of French game manufacturers active between 1904 and 1931.
The great popularity of Verne's book, and of a theatrical adaptation that he co-authored around 1880, inspired the production of an unusually large number of spin-off products in France, including several games. Other examples of this particular game, manufactured in about 1915, can be found online, including one in the Graphic Arts Collection of the Princeton University Library, but they are more brightly colored and may lack the imprint of the printer, Roche Frères. Another one, with muted color, is in the Collection Jules Verne of the Metropolitan Library of Amiens, France.
References:
"Les Editeurs Français de Jeux 1850-1950." Jouet Mag! No. 13. Moirans-en-Montagne: Musée du Jouet, p. 7. 10 December 2010. Online at http://www.musee-du-jouet.com/jouetmag/edjeux.doc (26 August 2011).
Mellby, Julie L. "Around the World or Around the Board." Graphic Arts Collection, Princeton University Library. 6 January 2011. http://blogs.princeton.edu/graphicarts/2011/01/around_the_world_and_around_th.html (25 August 2011).
Nash, Andrew. "Tour du Monde en 80 Jours Board Game (ca. 1915) Details." Jules Verne Collecting. 2011. http://julesverne.ca/jvgames_tour_1915.html (25 August 2011).
Sinoquet, Bernard. "Re: Le tour du Monde, game from 1915." Jules Verne Forum. 10 March 2011. http://jv.gilead.org.il/forum/2011/03/0024.html (25 August 2011).