Science in sport, or, The pleasure of astronomy : a new & instructive pastime : revised and approved by M. Bryan, of Blackheath

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Title from game board.
Date of publication from Goodfellow.
Goodfellow, C.G. Collector's guide to games and puzzles, 42
Selected exhibitions: "Instruction and Delight: Children's Games from the Ellen and Arthur Liman Collection" (Yale Center for British Art, 17 January-23 May, 2019).
BAC: British Art Center copy with original instruction booklet and slipcase.
Margaret Bryan (fl. 1795-1816) ran a girl's school in Blackheath, London, and was author of a number of popular works on science. The publisher Edward Wallis likely felt that her association with this game would be a testament to its accuracy, as well as highlight its suitability for both boys and girls. The board has thirty-five numbered square depicting astronomical objects, instruments, and principles, as well as portraits of astronomers (Ptolemy, Tycho Brahe, Nicholas Copernicus, Isaac Newton). The center panel depicts the Royal Observatory (Flamsteed House) in Greenwich, England, from which the prime meridian is defined. The first player who landed there could assume the title of 'Astronomer Royal', but there were hazards along the way. Landing on square 15, for example, with its depiction of 'The Man in the Moon'--"the ridiculous ideal of some ignorant people"--would send the player back to square 13, to read about 'The Phases of the Moon', so that [they] may know better."