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Thursday 22 March 2012

Floor Games by H G Wells: The photographs

I mentioned in an earlier blog entry that yesterday I had the opportunity to hold and look at a copy of H G Wells' book, FLOOR GAMES that he had donated to the library of his club. I mentioned that 'I would love to have been able to copy these illustrations as they are as inspiring as those featured in LITTLE WARS, but not as well known.'

After considerable research on the Internet during the course of today I managed to find some copies of those photographs. Some of them had captions, and I have included them underneath the relevant photograph.


A view showing the Island of the Temple and the invasion of the Indian's territory by Captain G. P. W.
A close view of the Temple, whose portals are guarded by grotesque plasticine monsters
A view showing the raid of the Negroid savages upon the white settlers of Pear Tree Island
A general view of Chamois City, showing the Cherry Tree Inn and the shopping quarter
The railway station at Blue End
The terraced hill on which stands the Town hall. Behind can be seen the Zoological Gardens
The School of Musketry. On the terrace the town guard parades in honour of the two mayors
Please note that the language used in the captions was written in the early twentieth century and may use words that are no longer deemed to be acceptable in common usage. Those words are included here purely for the sake of completeness and historical accuracy and are in no way intended to be insulting or derogatory in any way.

I hope that you found them as interesting – and possibly inspiring – as I did.

20 comments:

  1. Indeed, Bob! Thanks for sharing them.

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  2. Inspiring indeed thanks too for sharing them...

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  3. Fitz-Badger,

    They are lovely, aren’t they?

    All the best,

    Bob

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  4. Lead Legion,

    I was sure that they were out there. Finding them so that I could share them was just a matter of persistence.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. Tradgardmastare,

    I thought that blog readers like you would appreciate them.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  6. These are terrific, Bob. Well done for hunting them out! Quite a notch up from the Little Wars photographs.

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  7. AlFront,

    I think that the time I spent looking for them was well worth it, although I wish I could have been able to get hold of better quality scans of the originals.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  8. Thanks for posting these Bob. Particularly interesting to see railways taking so prominent a role.

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  9. Tim Gow,

    They are very evocative images ... and quite inspiring in so many ways. As to the railways ... well I have always had a soft spot for them, and it was nice to see them featured so prominently in H G Wells' photographs.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  10. Yes on both accounts. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. A magical book full of good advice for kids of all ages as well the charming and inspiring pictures.

    Thanks for taking the time and effort to share these.

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  12. Beautiful pictures! Ships made of bricks... interchangeable parts and easy to store... food for thought.

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  13. Sean,

    I am glad that you enjoyed them.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  14. Ross Mac,

    I love some of the ideas in the book, and I am now trying to get hold of a copy.

    A truly inspiring book on so many levels.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  15. Mad Carew,

    I must admit that the idea of using modern Lego-style bricks to build something similar had indeed crossed my mind.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  16. Mosstrooper,

    I thought that you would be one person who would enjoy seeing these photographs.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  17. Hi Bob,

    Absolutely lovely! I enjoyed seeing the 'block-ship' - I have a tin of Lego kicking around somewhere intended for my grandson but I am sure he wont mind his granddad having a play....;-)

    Very evocative stuff and i am really glad to see these.

    All the best,

    DC

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  18. David Crook,

    If you do experiment with building a ship out of Lego, I would love to see how it turns out.

    I have really fallen in love with this book and I am trying to find a copy of H G Wells' FLOOR GAMES (with the pictures which are missing from recent reprints) to add to my collection.

    All the best,

    Bob

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