Amid violent religious conflicts and assassinations under the rule of Henry III, Nicholas Prévost published what is likely the first European illustrated book devoted to children’s amusements. The Morgan owns the only complete copy. Comprising thirty-six prints by an unidentified artist, the album depicts more than one hundred ludic pastimes from the cradle to late adolescence. Games played with nuts, hats, balloons made from pig bladders, and even insects are featured, along with tennis, seesaws, archery, and hoops. Winter entertainments, shown here, include a snowball fight at close range and, for the less combative, spinning tops.
Les Trente six figvres, contenant tous le ieux qui se peurent jamais inventer et representer par les enfans tant garsons que filles (Thirty-six Figures, Containing All the Games that Could Ever Be Invented and Played by Children, Both Boys and Girls), (Paris: Nicolas Prévost, 1589). Purchased on the Fellows Fund, with the special assistance of Julia P. Wightman, 1975–1977. PML 83633