Edward Wallis "Rail-Road Adventures" Game Circa 1830

The early Nineteenth Century equivalent of today's faceless gaming industry.........

"RAIL-ROAD ADVENTURES - A NEW ROUND GAME" was the wonderful title given to this board game from the 1830's - It was sold and marketed as "WALLIS'S LOCOMOTIVE GAME OF RAILROAD ADVENTURES".

What can only and best be described as a piece of true railway art, this fabulous game would have been played with a pair of dice. The individual pictorial scenes depict contemporary images of and surrounding the growing popularity of the early railway system in Great Britain during the pioneering years of the 1830's. Such scenes include station architecture, railway viaducts, agricultural, commercial goods and passenger traffic, engineering works, and so on - All under the ever-watchful eye of Britannia herself.

This hand-printed game, made in London by Edward Wallis is in remarkably good condition for such a fragile piece of 190 years old railway history. It's complete with the embossed leather clad cover wherein the game would have been neatly stored when not in use.

Something that is of historical linguistic interest is the use of the term "Railroad", which was later adopted by the United States to describe their railway system. From the mid 1830's in Great Britain, the terminology to describe this new mode of transport was changed to "Railway" - The rest as they say is history.

Without a doubt, this is the oldest item we have in stock.