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On
the cover this month
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Unknown maker
Race to the Gold Diggings of Australia
London, 1855
board game: wooden box with sliding pictorial lid (shown here);
14.0 x 19.5 x 4.5 cm (contains hand-coloured lithograph mounted
on linen with lead ships, rule sheet, dice and other pieces)
Children’s Literature Research Collection, State Library of South Australia
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A Race to the Gold Diggings in Australia is the earliest known board game devoted to Australia. In the game, children raced each other to Port Phillip, in Victoria, bound for the goldfields where, according to the game, there were nuggets the size of boulders. The implication was clear: Australia was a land of huge opportunity. This is one of more than 170 items gathered from Australia’s state and territory libraries which, along with works from the National Library’s Collection, make up the major exhibition National Treasures from Australia’s Great Libraries, which will travel around Australia and is currently at the National Library (until 1 February). |
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