The effects of regime change

The development of printed games in France was strongly influenced by the regime changes that followed the Revolution:

The present chapter begins by analysing the games that trace the history of the Revolution itself, as it unfolds. They provide valuable contemporary sources, showing how the Revolution was viewed in its earliest years. A second theme to examine is how publishers adapted their games to the political exigencies of each new regime by changing the iconography and amending the text to suit. The new games also reflected changes in society in a wider sense. The increasing affluence and leisure of the bourgeoisie meant that there was a wider market for games, extending beyond the young aristocrats of the preceding century. There were new themes reflecting the activities of this market, notably theatres and other public spectacles. Towards the end of the 19th century, chromolithography developed as a cheap means of mass production, especially in the Alsace-Lorraine area. Thereafter, French games were widely diffused, both in France and within Continental Europe.

Chronicling the French Revolution

A number of contemporary games exist, chronicling the Revolution. That shown in Figure 4.1 is entitled the Jeu de la Révolution Française. The publisher is not given but a line of text below the game image says: ‘A Paris rue S. Hyacinthe pres la Place S. Michel No. 38’: the Bibliothèque nationale de France attributes it to P. E. Lépine (engraver) and gives the date as between 1789 and 1791.