Category Archives: Games

Parlour game

Posted on January 25, 2013 by mercedes-c

Bonnets are everywhere due to the bicentenary of Pride and Prejudice*. This blog could not resist the temptation to join in, especially when the said article of apparel features so prominently in Douce’s folders of costumes, where the fashion plate … Continue reading →

Posted in Colour, Costumes, Everyday life, Fashion, Games, Literature, Prints, Wood-engravings | Comments Off on Parlour game

Rural sports

Posted on July 27, 2012 by mercedes-c

On the same day the Olympic Games are officially starting in London, and in the spirit of Douce’s wonderfully mad notebooks of Coincidences (Bodleian), the first image that came to my attention when opening the folder of prints to catalogue … Continue reading →

Posted in Colour, Drawings, Everyday life, Festivals, Games, Prints, Satirical prints, Sports | Tagged | Comments Off on Rural sports

Douce’s evening readings

Posted on July 4, 2012 by mercedes-c

In the evening of 26 September 1830, Douce was reading Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe. Scott was a friend of Douce: in 1804, he had sent him a  copy of his edition of the medieval romance Sir Tristrem (now in the Bodleian). … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquaries, Games, Literature, Prints, Romances | Comments Off on Douce’s evening readings

Poetry and Astronomy

Posted on June 6, 2012 by mercedes-c

I missed the transit of Venus earlier this morning. Transit of Venus I thought that special equipment was required but, apparently, all you need is a piece of paper -or so Jim Naughtie said in the Today programme. He was … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Games, Natural history, Poetry, Prints, Science, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Poetry and Astronomy

The ringball alley

Posted on April 4, 2012 by mercedes-c

After cataloguing Douce’s prints of ‘Cricket, Racquets &c., Bat and Ball’, I have just started working on his images of ‘Billiards, Bowling, [Quoits], Skittles &c’. The first few mounts contained the usual Doucean mix of engravings from various Dutch books … Continue reading →

Posted in Everyday life, Games, Prints, Sports | Comments Off on The ringball alley

Student life

Posted on March 26, 2012 by mercedes-c

Sports and various outdoor activities seem like an appropriate subject for a post, now that we have 123 days to go before the London Olympics start, Hilary term has just ended, and the first days of Spring have brought sun … Continue reading →

Posted in Everyday life, Games, History of printmaking, Prints, Satirical prints, Sports | Comments Off on Student life

Courtships and Love Affairs

Posted on February 14, 2012 by mercedes-c

After going through Douce’s folder labelled ‘Courtships & Love Affairs’, I think it is fair to say that he was not much of a romantic. His selection of images of romance includes this depiction of a gloomy ‘man in love’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Everyday life, Fools, Games, Prints | Comments Off on Courtships and Love Affairs

A game of cards

Posted on February 9, 2012 by mercedes-c

Among Douce’s many correspondents, Richard Twiss is probably my favourite -his style is maddening, since he constantly jumps from subject to subject, but his letters are very entertaining. He bombarded Douce with numerous enquiries about all sorts of matters often … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, History of printmaking, Letters | Comments Off on A game of cards

Board games

Posted on January 30, 2012 by mercedes-c

At the moment, I am cataloguing Douce’s prints of games, sports, and popular pastimes. The reason why Douce collected these images can be found in the introduction to his friend Joseph Strutt’s The Sports and Pastimes of the People of … Continue reading →

Posted in Collections and Collectors, Games | Comments Off on Board games