Spilsbury’s dissected map
A map pasted on wood and cut along the borders – the first jigsaw puzzle, made for teaching.
Spilsbury sold his ‘dissected maps’ to teach children geography. The modern puzzle with interlocking pieces came only with machine cutting in the 19th century. Examples are in the British Library.
Materials: Copper engraving on paper, mahogany or oak
Manufacture: The map was pasted on a thin board and cut apart with a fine saw along the borders.
The pieces follow the countries, not a pattern of knobs.
The map hand-coloured country by country.