Historical Tetotums, [Barfoot, c. 1850]  Ballam Collection: 1850s (8)

Playing with History, a small selection of Richard Ballam's games, ran from 8 January to 6 March 2016. It showcased (mainly) didactic games with the following themes: Kings and Queens, The World View and Conflict.

To see an interview with Richard Ballam and Chris Fletcher with a video of (other) games click here.

Richard's talk, 200 years of fun & games is available as a Podcast: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/200-years-fun-and-games

As with other ephemera, games hold a mirror to society - through the concept of play.  Games are particularly appropriate to the Bodleian Library collections as they enhance both the Opie Collection of Children's Literature and the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera. Chance survivals, these rare examples of material culture illuminate child and adult play in earlier times, as well as giving insights into social history in both images and words.

The history of games has become a subject of research in its own right, with many specialist publications and an annual International Board Games Conference. The Games Research Database (GARD) contains a wealth of games from both public and private collections (including Richard Ballam's games and pastimes).

We are fortunate to have two complementary collections of games.

John Johnson included games in his collection of printed ephemera, both in the form of artefacts and single sheets. Many are online (under Educational Ephemera). More detailed catalogue records, with small images, can be found on the Johnson online catalogue.

From 2012 to 2015, Richard Ballam has donated his major collection of games and pastimes dating from 1800 to 2000.

These fall into various categories:

Alphabet games; Board games; Bricks and Blocks; Card games; Dissected puzzles (jigsaws); Party games, Strategy games, Teaching Aids and Toys.  The Collection is particularly strong in the output of Ogilvy and Barfoot and, for the later period, Gibson, Johnson Bros., Roberts, Spear and Waddington.

The games are listed online Alphabetically and Chronologically: http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/johnson/search/indexes/named-collections

The games are currently being catalogued: (shelfmarks begin Ballam). There are currently no images on our own website, but you can find images of these and other games on the Games Research Database (GARD)

For information on access to this material, please contact the Librarian of the John Johnson Collection: jjcoll@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

The Bodleian exhibition Games and Pastimes (2006) showcased the John Johnson and Opie Collections and explored several themes:

Comic Metamorphoses; Paper Dolls and Protean Figures; Scientific Pursuits and Mathematical Puzzles; Elegant and Instructive Games; Toy Theatre; Jigsaws and Dissected Puzzles; Alphabets; Early Construction Toys; Parlour Games; Writing and Drawing Aids; and Outdoor Games. The exhibition guide andl list of exhibits are online.