1884 · Peter G. Thompson
An instructional card game meant to teach players the names, history, functions, and associations of characters and locations in classical mythology.
The game is played with 76 different cards, which each tell the story of a different mythological figure.
Included is a pronunciation card, a 2-sided instruction card, and a 4 pages "background" by "the compiler": Laura Wheaton Abbot Cooke, Chicago, Ill., March 1884.
The object of the game is to collect the cards into "books" (melds). The one who collects the greatest number of books wins the game.
A book is composed of five specific cards (i.e. Jupiter - the number 1 card- +Saturn + Neptune + Rhea + Ceres). A typical card from the deck shows the name of a god, a small illustration of the god, the names of the four other gods which form a book, and (the largest section) a History, which is not used in game play. Note that the cards are in black and white, so the books lack the modern convenience of color-matching borders.
There are also a couple of "location" cards which have special effects.
