The Game of the Goose

An entry in the Stationers’ Hall Register, London, shows that John Wolfe registered the Game of the Goose on 16 June 1597.

The entry reads: ‘John Wolfe: Entred for his Copie vnder master Hartwelles and bothe the wardens hands the new and most pleasant game of the goose’. Much is known about Wolfe: he was apprenticed to train as a printer in London, became a master printer in Florence but returned to England to become a high official of the Stationers’ Company and, in 1593, Printer to the City of London. However, the registered example of the game itself is lost.

The version shown in Figure 6.2 bearing John Overton's imprint is the earliest English Game of the Goose known to survive. The imprint reads: ‘Invented at the Consistory in Rome and printed and sould by John Overton over at St. Sepulchre’s Church: in London’. John Overton (1640–1714) was active at his St. Sepulchre address from 1665 to 1707. This game is listed in the Term Catalogues for 1690 (Trinity Term) under the title: ‘The most pleasant game of the Goose; invented at the Consistory of Rome: neatly engraven on a large Copper Plate […] [and] is sold by J. Overton at the White Horse, against S. Sepulchre's Church’. In the Morgan Library's example, Overton’s imprint is concealed by a later label: ‘Sold at the Black Lyon in Exeter Exchange in the Strand London. Where you may have Musick prick’d’. Laurence Worms notes that the musical instrument-maker, printer and publisher, Henry Waylett (fl. 1743– 1772) was certainly ‘At the Black Lyon in Exeter Change’ in 1744. Given the reference to music, it appears likely that the later label is indeed that of Waylett. It is not known whether this Morgan example is an original print by John Overton or, less likely, a re-strike.

It is a classic Game of the Goose, with all the usual rules and features, except that the rule for the Maze at space 42 requires the player to ‘return back’ to space 29, rather than to space 39 as in the classic Italian game, or to space 30 as in the classic French game. It is not clear whether these variations arise from mistakes in copying from an Italian original, or whether there was rule variety in Italy for which we do not have evidence today.