Playthings in Early Modernity: Party Games, Word Games, Mind Games collects 15 interdisciplinary essays addressing play “not merely as a pastime, a leisurely pursuit, but as a pivotal part of daily life, a strategic psychosocial endeavor.” Published earlier this year by Medieval Institute Publications, the volume includes such chapters as:

• “Mixt” and Matched: Dance Games in Late Sixteenth- and Early Seventeenth-Century Europe by Emily F. Winerock
• Ludic Intermingling/Ludic Discrimination: Women’s Card Playing and Visual Proscriptions in Early Modern Europe by Antonella Fenech Kroke
• Letter Games: Machiavelli and Guicciardini in Carnivalesque Correspondence by Sergius Kodera
• “Sportes and Pastimes, done by Number”: Mathematical Games in Early Modern England by Jessica Marie Otis
• Trading and Trick Taking in the Dutch Republic: Pasquin’s Wind Cards and the South Sea Bubble by Joyce Goggin
• The Problem of Excessive Play: Renaissance Strategies of Ludic Governmentality by Andreas Hermann Fischer

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For Asian Heritage Month, the Peel Art Gallery Museum & Archives near Toronto is hosting a special exhibit on the traditional board games of India.

Board games have a universal appeal that transcends language and culture. “The Art of Kreeda” means “the art of playing”. This exhibit entertains, educates and pays tribute to the iconic board games that India introduced to the world.

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