A double-sided dissected puzzle, with 25 scenes from Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe arranged in five rows of five squares and, on verso, a map of England and Wales dissected along county boundaries.

Robinson Crusoe became a popular story with children soon after it was first published in 1719. Adaptations appeared rapidly and the story appeared, severely reduced in length, as a chapbook, an early moveable book and, as here, a dissected puzzle.

Dissected maps (an early form of jigsaw) were developed in the 1760s by John Spilsbury of London. An engraver, map-maker and map-seller, he saw a marketing opportunity by pasting maps onto thin mahogany board and cutting them into pieces for reassembling by children as part of their study of geography. Spilsbury's invention came at an opportune time: new theories of education were being promoted, the Industrial Revolution was producing a newly rich middle class with money to spend on the education of their children, and there was an increasing number of children's book publishers. Other map engravers and publishers followed Spilsbury's path and produced map dissections and games based upon maps. Dissected puzzles and games on other subjects such as history were also published.

Hannas, Linda. The English jigsaw puzzle, 1760-1890: with a descriptive check-list of puzzles in the museums of Great Britain and the author's collection, London: Wayland, 1972

Shefrin, Jill. Ingenious contrivances: table games and puzzles for children, Toronto: Friends of the Osborne & Lillian H. Smith Collections: Toronto Public Library, 1996

Shefrin, Jill. Neatly dissected: for the instruction of young ladies and gentlemen in the knowledge of geography: John Spilsbury and early dissected puzzles, Los Angeles: Cotsen Occasional Press, c1999

Birmingham Libraries: Peacock's Jigsaw puzzle. Double-sided dissected map

Victoria and Albert Museum: The conservation of nineteenth century dissected puzzles

Victoria and Albert Museum: Museum of Childhood. Collections: Puzzles

State Library of South Australia: Treasures of the State Library. Early risers puzzle

State Library of South Australia: Treasures of the State Library. Life of Emigration puzzle