There will be a lecture on the history of bagatelle games tomorrow.
Details here:
http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2022/08/bagatelle-exhibit-lecture-at-field.html

James Masters is a UK researcher and collector who will give the talk over Zoom. This is in relation to the ongoing exhibit of bagatelle games at the Field House Museum in St. Louis MO.

Pictures of the show in the above link, but here's one:
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The lecture is at 2pm EST and I think the exhibit runs until the end of the year.
I might be doing a presentation with the museum in the fall. If you are interested in the question of "how did we get from table games to pinball", we have been doing lots of collaborative research to help flesh out that story.

oh thanks for the reminder! Use the EventBrite link to register (free) for the zoom presentation
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speaker-series-bagatelle-from-tabletop-to-arcade-tickets-333865389367

Ed Nickels, whose collection is physically being exhibited, will be giving a talk near the end of September. I'll be posting details when available.

more on Ed Nickels, including a link to his 2007 Pin Expo presentation http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2021/11/ed-nickels-history-of-bagatelle-and-its.html

that was great! I hope everyone who wanted to see it was able to attend

the lecture is now available online. I have made some notes in my post on it as well: http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2022/08/bagatelle-evolution-lecture-at-field.html
if the man who watched from Malta is there, please say hello! I'd love to get in touch with you.

I have put up a post documenting 19th century book entries on bagatelle:
http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2022/08/bagatelle-notes-19th-century.html

A bunch more research is on the way.
One of the big things to come out of all this is that there is currently NO EVIDENCE that the Chateaux de Bagatelle was the "birthplace of pinball", nor that there was any actual traditional table game there.
We have a loose team of researchers that span Canada, USA, UK, and other countries looking in to these roots simultaneously.

the 2nd bagatelle lecture is happening this weekend!
http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2022/09/2nd-bagatelle-lecture-at-field-house.html

be sure to register in advance to get the Zoom link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speaker-series-bagatelle-the-ed-nickels-collection-tickets-414796596787

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Yes, within the week

The 2nd bagatelle lecture, this one by Ed Nickels discussing his collection on display at the Field House Museum, is now online http://pinballnovice.blogspot.com/2022/12/2022-09-24-bagatelle-lecture-by-ed.html