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One of the specially-designed exhibition spaces in the Bodleian Libraries’ Weston Library is the Treasury, a place we have permanently dedicated to exhibiting some of the most notable, distinctive and impressive items from our collections.

The items on show in the Treasury are changed regularly. At the time of writing, visitors can see the show 21 Pairs and a tropical forest; from 6 March, the hall will be used to host an all-new exhibition: From Sappho to Suffrage: Women who dared.

This new collection of treasures has been timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act, whereby British women over the age of 30 were finally given the right to vote.

There will be a wealth of items on display, spanning two millennia of history and celebrating countless irrepressible, accomplished women and their achievements.

One item you will be able to see in From Sappho to Suffrage is featured in the British press today. This is Suffragetto, and it’s the last known copy of an Edwardian board game themed around the violent struggles between suffragettes and the police. This copy was donated to the Bodleian Libraries by board game collector Richard Ballam. 

Being both powerfully themed and purely strategic (there are no dice, no deck of cards) modern board game fans might consider Suffragetto to be rather modern. It’s certainly a very engaging game, and suitably provocative.

One player controls the suffragettes, who are attempting to gain access to the House of Commons for their protest. Meanwhile, the other will play as the police, charged with subduing the suffragettes and infiltrating their meeting at the Albert Hall.

Things can get very tense, and not every playing piece will have prevailed once the clash is over. Suffragetto was produced by the British Women’s Social and Political Union with a clear intention of spreading their important messages in a vital, interactive fashion.