MARK TWAIN'S MEMORY-BUILDER. A Game for Acquiring and Retaining All Sorts of Facts and Dates.
[New York: Charles L. Webster & Co., 1891.] Original 13-1/2" x 9" game-board of heavy paper stretched over a wooden frame, with score-card on one side and "The Game" instructions on the reverse.
First Edition of this memory-building game invented by Twain -- bearing a patent date of August 18, 1885, a copyright ("by S.L. Clemens") date of 1885, and a date under his name of February 1891. As Twain explains (in way too much detail on the back), one thinks of a date -- of a royal or presidential accession, of a battle, or of a minor event -- says it aloud, and sticks a pin into the appropriate year of this game-board -- thus (supposedly) pinning it into your own memory as well. Other contestants do the same. Like the ill-fated Paige Compositor and its 18,000 parts, in which Twain invested and lost everything (filing for bankruptcy in 1894), this "Memory-Builder" game was a commercial disaster -- and it is not hard to see why. (Does sticking pins into paper truly fix a date in one's mind? Once you've played a few times, the game-board would be a mass of holes!)
This game actually consisted of three parts, but the other two parts (not present here) very seldom survive -- a 12-page leaflet with sample facts and dates, and a small box in which to store common pins (i.e. date-pinning pieces). This example of the game-board is in near-fine condition -- never used, so no pin-holes. There are a couple of tiny tears in the score-card panel, a natural result of being stretched over an open space within the frame; there is also some browning of the rear (instructional) panel. Quite an uncommon, and unusual, Twain "first edition." Blanck 3432. Item #15865
Price: $325.00