The New Royal Game of Goose an original board game c1851

*a 19th century hand coloured race game featuring English landmarks such as The Crystal Palace and the Railway to York*
 
Unknown: Anonymous (no date but c1851)
 
The game is from around 1851; it is linen backed, across six squares and measures 52cm by 40cm, it is hand coloured, the board being in the shape of a magnificent egg laying goose; the game is attached to a more recent 20th century cloth folder; the front panel of the original packaging has been attached to the upper board of the folder; there are no maker’s or publisher’s marks; it is overall in excellent condition, there is a small  pen mark to the lower left panel of the game board, along with a couple of tiny pen marks to the foliage in the top left hand corner, The front panel has two scuff marks; overall very good.
 
The Game of the Goose is one of the oldest printed board games, dating back 400 years with its origins in Italy. The premise is simple: it is a race game, played with dice, with the object being to land on game square 63 before anyone else. 
 
This game dates to around 1851, at around the time the Victorians played a ‘new’ royal game of goose, adding a ‘smoking man’ to square 57. Showing the conventions of the day, any male player would need to go backwards if they landed on this square presumably so they could have a good smoke, any female player though could stay where they were. For much of the 19th century, smoking was associated with men and deemed an acceptable past time for males in politics, academia and commerce, but not women, and this was reflected in the rules. 
 
There are notable landmarks from 1851 on the board, including The Crystal Palace on square 42 and The Great Northern Railway on square 6, being the project to link York to London. A scarce board game, there are none in commerce and they rarely turn up, especially in such nice condition, with the game board well preserved by a previous owner.