Spelregels voor het bordspel over Napoleons verbanning naar Elba, 1814 1814

This broadside, printed in Amsterdam, is the instruction sheet for a board game about Napoleon’s exile to Elba, dating to around 1814. It's made using the relatively inexpensive process of letterpress printing, allowing for the wide distribution of texts and images. Consider the qualities of the thin paper, its crisp black ink, and the dense columns of text. The original owner of the sheet would have likely handled it frequently, creasing and folding it as they learned the rules of the game. The paper is thus both a carrier of information, and a record of social interaction. This game reflects a moment of intense political upheaval, when anxieties about power, control, and national identity were at a fever pitch. It’s fascinating to consider how such complex themes could be distilled into a commercial product, available for purchase for just 50 cents. This allowed people to engage playfully with the serious matter of Napoleon’s defeat, but also participate in the early consumer culture of 19th century Europe. The game manual serves as a reminder that even seemingly simple objects can offer profound insights into the wider world around us.