The Knowledge Box

This appears to be an c. 1870s card game that elaborates on the basic Authors/Go Fish mechanic (asking other players for cards that complete sets). The box features a dull-colored lithograph of Niagara Falls. The cards are not illustrated and are square with plain white backs. The game is undated and bears no copyright, patent or company name except a small white triangle containing the initials E.I.H. This suggests an early publication by E.I. Horsman, which started as a doll manufacturer in 1865 and by the mid-1880s was having a battle with Milton Bradley over the rights to Halma and was prominently displaying patents and copyrights on its boxes. The card deck has 48 cards divided into 12 sets of four cards each. The 12 categories are: Great Poets; Great Dramatists; Great Historians; Great Painters; Great Musical Composers; Great Philosophers; Great Astronomers; Great Naval Commanders; Great Rulers; Great Pieces of Sculpture; Great Events; and Natural Wonders. The main rules difference from Authors is that the sets are grouped into four trios. For instance, Poets, Dramatists and Historians form one of the trios. Winning two sets of a trio is worth three points instead of two, and winning all three is worth five points. Individual sets count a single point, but the person with the largest number of sets of any kind gets a two-point bonus. Most points wins.