Febregency Readathon

[Zuzana]

Once again it's the time of the year for a Febregency readathon.

Febregency is a month-long readalong running throughout February which celebrates the literature of Britain's Regency period (1795 to 1837).

The essential task is to read a book published during the Regency period, written by an English or Irish author.

Note: Regency period (the looser definition) = the period from c. 1795 until the accession of Queen Victoria on 20 June 1837.

[Zuzana]

This year Febregency is hosted by these lovely booktubers:

BookishPrincess: https://youtu.be/_QfmHGFMRW0?si=G3jWy...

https://youtu.be/_QfmHGFMRW0?si=G3jWy... https://youtu.be/PyRPHx3rDbk?si=3uJzh...

tristanandtheclassics6538

msrichardsreads

Each host came up with a special challenge. Just remember, challenges are optional, the only essential task is to read a Regency book.

List of 2024 special challenges:
BookishPrincess: Read a book from the Regency era that involves a naval journey or travel by sea.
ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace: Read historical fiction set during the Regency period.
msrichardsreads: Read a new-to-you Regency author.
tristanandtheclassics6538: Learn and engage in a Regency pastime or arrange an evening of Regency games with friends.

[Zuzana]

***

[Zuzana]

I'd like to fulfill all the tasks. So I gave some thoughts to the Regency pastime I could try. In the end I decided some card games would be nice.

Here are some options:

1. Napoleon at St Helena is a 2-deck patience or solitaire card game for one player. It is quite difficult to win, and luck-of-the-draw is a significant factor. The emperor Napoleon often played patience during his final exile to the island of St Helena, and this is said to be the version he probably played. Along with its variants, it is one of the most popular two-deck patiences or solitaires. The winning chances have been estimated as 1 in 10 games, with success typically dependent on the player's ability to clear one or more columns. The game is the progenitor of a large family of similar games, mostly with variations designed to make it easier to get out.

Alternative names include Le Cadran ("The Dial") and, in the US, Forty Thieves, Big Forty and Roosevelt at San Juan.

So Napoleon supposedly played it. While Englishmen seemed not to play it en masse at that time. There were loads of French immigrants in England during Regency and they well might have play a good game of patience. :)

I will play with a physical deck of cards. But you can try this online version of the game: https://www.solitairebliss.com/forty-...

If I manage to persuade my friends to join me, we could try:
2. Loo
3. Happy Families. We have a similar game that uses the same principles only instead of real families of people uses various "families" of objects. It's a popular didactic game called Kvarteto. I actually have a deck of "castles": 32 cards depicting various castles grouped into 8 "families".