The Royall & Most Pleasant Game of Y Goose. London: John Overton, circa 1670. 19 1/4 x 14 1/2 inches (49 x 37 cm); engraved, laid down on board. Framed. Unevenly browned and stained, some small losses along old folds; together with, [ABBOT, ANNE W]. The Mansion of Happiness. An Instructive, Moral, & Entertaining Amusement. Salem, MA: S. B. Ives, 1843. 14 1/4 x 18 1/2 (37 x 46.75 cm) Hand-colored lithograph, sheet separated at central vertical fold reinforced with old linen, both panels laid down on marbled paper-covered board. Framed. Intermittent spots, uneven toning, small losses along the fold, a larger one at the top edge and lower right corner.

The Royall & Most Pleasant Game of Y Goose, published in 1670, is among the earliest Game of the Goose boards published in England. It follows a standard format with sixty-three spaces, thirteen of which contain illustrations of geese. The Mansion of Happiness was often cited as the first board game published in America, although scholars have now identified certain earlier geographic games that were published in the 1820s. The game is closely based on an English game of the same name published by Laurie and Whittle in 1800. It has a moralistic message - there are spaces representing positive traits such as piety, honesty, and gratitude, and penalty spaces with titles like immodesty, cruelty, or audacity - which was a common theme for games produced by the Salem-based board game publishers William and Stephen Ives, the predecessors of Milton Bradley, the McLoughlin brothers, and Parker Brothers.