Historical Amusement (1839)

The cardgame consists of a booklet with 100 questions and answers, 36 cards showing monarchs and 100 small cards with answers. Any number of persons may play at this game in the following manner: a President must be appointed, who is to see if the questions are correctly answered: the president distributes about six or eight counters to each player, the remainder to be left in the box, which will serve for a pool. He then deals the answers round, an equal number to each player; after this is done, he shuffles the pack of Heads, and placing the whole pack face downwards on the table, desires one of the players to take the uppermost and read aloud the name of the king, when he was born, died, etc. The president then asks the question from this little book, connected with the card turned up and whoever plays the proper answer, receives one counter from the pool; but if the answer is wrong, one counter must be paid to the pool. The next player then takes a Head and the same rule must be observed till all of them are read. When a player has forfeited all his counters, his remaining cards must be given to the player on his right hand. Should the pool become empty, each player must contribute one counter. The game is decided in two ways, either by all but one player having forfeited their counters, or by all the heads having been turned up, in which case the remaining players are to reckon their counters, and he who has the greatest number wins the game. The winner takes the contents of the pool, and claims the office of president in the next game.