📚Source Card #1
“The Improvement in Bagatelle (US Patent 115,357)”
Redgrave, Montague, United States Patent Office
Published: 1871
Used for: Spring plunger mechanics, table design specifications, ball size standardization
HOW WE VERIFY
Bagatelle is well-documented through 18th and 19th-century gaming manuals, patent records, and literary references. We cross-reference historical accounts, museum collections, and patent filings to reconstruct authentic rules and table designs.
1
Historical Manuals
18th and 19th-century game books describing table construction and rules
2
Patent Records
Redgrave 1871 patent and related filings documenting table mechanics
3
Literary Sources
Period references in Dickens, gaming guides, and salon culture accounts
4
Museum Collections
Surviving tables and equipment in gaming history collections
CONTENT MARKERS
VerifiedVERIFIED - Confirmed by historical gaming manuals and patent records
ReconstructionRECONSTRUCTION - Early table designs reconstructed from period descriptions and surviving examples
DramatizationDRAMATIZATION - Artistic interpretation for engagement
SimulationSIMULATION - Digital adaptation of physical ball and pin mechanics
PRIMARY SOURCES
📚Source Card #2
“The Encyclopaedia of Games and Pastimes”
Various, Thomas Nelson & Sons, London
Published: 1903
Used for: Standard Bagatelle rules, table dimensions, cup layout patterns, scoring systems
📚Source Card #3
“The Pickwick Papers”
Dickens, Charles, Chapman & Hall
Published: 1836
Used for: Cultural context, popularity in Victorian England, social setting of play
📚Source Card #4
“Pinball: The History of the Silver Ball”
Colmer, Michael, New English Library
Published: 1976
Used for: Evolution from Bagatelle to pinball, Redgrave patent significance, American adaptation
📚Source Card #5
“Les Jeux de Salon (Parlour Games)”
Lacroix, Paul, Firmin-Didot, Paris
Published: 1886
Used for: French salon gaming culture, Bagatelle table descriptions, Trou Madame ancestry
CHANGELOG
2026.02 - Initial release with historical rules and patent-based mechanics
Future - Additional variant rules (Mississippi, Trou Madame) and period illustrations planned