The Dickens Game is a matching game similar in play to the game of Authors. The pack is divided into books of four cards each. The book E, "Bleak House", for example, consists of four cards, each card representing an interesting character in Charles Dickens' novel of that name.
The instruction booklet states that this is "A new social entertainment familiarizing characters in the novels of Charles Dickens."
Shown below are four of the sets of cards and a corresponding image from each title in the Lilly Library collection.
CHARLES DICKENS IN THE LILLY LIBRARY
The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste and moaning as they went.
Arthur Rackham, the "Beloved Enchanter", was one of the best known children's book illustrators. It was a difficult decision choosing between his artwork for Mother Goose, Alice in Wonderland, and A Christmas Carol, for this exhibition. The sepia tones of his watercolors and the scenes represented have been described as haunting, enchanting, menacing, and disturbing.
Hablot Knight Browne, better known as Phiz, was an English artist and contemporary of Dickens. He ultimately illustrated ten Dickens novels, and is particularly famous for his realizations of Nicholas Nickleby and David Copperfield.
This is the first bound issue of The Pickwick Papers, also illustrated by Phiz.
George Cruikshank, an illustrator and caricaturist, was also famous for his artwork contributing to Dickens' novels.