Ottocento immersivo : Giochi da tavolo e sapere scientifico nella Londra georgiana

Between the end of the Eighteenth century and the first half of the Nineteenth century, John and Edward Wallis were among the most appreciated games’ publishers in London. Their catalogue included card and board-games intended to teach young boys and girls history, geography and sciences. Despite being to date understudied, science-themed games are particularly interesting: they are in fact a valuable source to investigate the circulation of scientific knowledge, the ways in which it was translated into images and how it was enjoyed by players. Some of these games, moreover, show some characteristics which are worth to be highlighted: reflecting the general idea of a hands-on approach, with familiar objects and manipulative experience having a central role in children education, players were often asked to make small experiments or to visit places, such as the Zoological Gardens. Such physical involvement led to continuous trespassing beyond the board, so that these games ended up in absorbing the domestic space, when not the city of London. This element, that can be summarized as “immersivity”, has very much in common with Georgian science popularization and education: just think about cycloramas, panoramas, magic lanterns and vertical orreries. Similar apparatus allowed – not only, but also – laymen to be surrounded by exotic landscapes, celestial bodies’ movements, and optical wonders, so that the rational comprehension of natural phenomena passed through a sensorial, pervasive experience. Wallis’ games made no exception, as it will be demonstrated.