Long Before MicroPuzzles: The Original Spilsbury Puzzle of 1767

Nearly 260 years before the first MicroPuzzles tube left our Winter Garden workshop, one London engraver cut a map into pieces and changed how the world plays.

Have you ever wondered who decided a picture should be cut apart just so it could be put back together? It sounds like a strange thing to invent on purpose. But that is exactly what happened in London, sometime around 1765, and the man behind it never lived to see how far the idea would travel.

We have a personal stake in this story. Tucked away in our collection is an original Spilsbury puzzle from 1767, complete with its box and label, in a condition that still surprises people who see it in person. It is one of the earliest jigsaw puzzles known to exist. Holding it is a strange feeling. You are looking at the great-great-grandparent of every puzzle we have ever made.

So who was this person, and why did he think slicing up a map was a good idea? His name was John Spilsbury, and he was not a toymaker. He was a young engraver, freshly trained under Thomas Jefferys, the Royal Geographer to King George III. Spilsbury spent his days working with maps, precision, and fine detail. It makes sense, in hindsight, that the first jigsaw puzzle came from someone who already knew how to read a map down to its borders.

This post is about him, about the puzzle we are lucky enough to own, and about why an idea from 1767 still shows up in our workshop every single day. We think the story is worth telling in full, not just as trivia, but as a reminder of what puzzles were always meant to do: slow you down and make you think, one piece at a time.

Key Takeaways

• John Spilsbury, an English engraver, is widely credited as the inventor of the jigsaw puzzle.
• Around 1765, he mounted maps on thin mahogany boards and cut them apart along country borders, calling them "Dissected Maps."
• MicroPuzzles owns an original 1767 Spilsbury puzzle titled "North America in its Principal Divisions," complete with its original box and label.
• Spilsbury died in 1769 at just 29 years old, only a few years after his invention.
• The term "jigsaw puzzle" did not come into common use until 1909, nearly 150 years after Spilsbury's first "Dissected Map."
• Our founders, Rachel and Michael, occasionally bring the piece out for private showings and media events.

• The idea behind Spilsbury's Dissected Maps, learning and delight through hands-on assembly, still shapes how we design every MicroPuzzles puzzle today.

An Engraver, a Map, and an Accidental Invention

John Spilsbury did not set out to invent a toy. He trained as an engraver under Thomas Jefferys, the Royal Geographer to King George III, which meant his job was producing detailed, accurate maps for a demanding audience. Precision was not optional in that line of work. A border drawn in the wrong place was a mistake, not a stylistic choice.

Somewhere around 1765, Spilsbury had an idea that mixed his professional skill with a completely different purpose. He mounted a printed map onto a thin sheet of mahogany board, then cut it apart along the borders between countries. The pieces could be scattered and reassembled, and in reassembling them, a child would learn geography almost without noticing they were learning at all.

He called these creations "Dissected Maps." That is a far cry from "jigsaw puzzle," and for good reason. The name we use today did not exist yet. Neither, really, did the concept. Spilsbury was not refining an old idea. He was building something new out of the tools he already had on his workbench.

The Piece We're Lucky Enough to Own

Finding any Spilsbury puzzle from this period is rare. Finding one with its original box and label intact is rarer still. Ours depicts North America, divided into its principal regions, exactly the kind of subject Spilsbury's engraving background prepared him to render with real accuracy.

Rachel and Michael keep it as part of our collection, not behind glass in some office, but as a working reminder of where this whole idea started. Every so often it comes out for a private showing or a media event, and every time it does, the reaction is the same: quiet disbelief that something this old still holds together this well.

A Short Life, A Long Legacy

Here is the part of the story that stops people. John Spilsbury died on April 3, 1769, at just 29 years old. He had only a handful of years between his first Dissected Map and his death. He never saw his invention become a household item. He never saw it named a "jigsaw puzzle." He never saw a company like ours build an entire product line around the same basic idea.

Isn't it strange how some of the biggest ideas outlive the people who had them by centuries? Spilsbury's career was brief. His idea was not. It sat, was copied, was refined, and slowly spread, long after he was gone.

From "Dissected Maps" to "Jigsaw Puzzles"

For nearly a century and a half, nobody called these things jigsaw puzzles. The term did not enter common use until 1909, almost 150 years after Spilsbury's first cut board. Before that, "Dissected Maps" and similar names were the standard.

What We Learned from Cutting Up a Map

We think about Spilsbury more than you might expect for a company that makes puzzles small enough to fit in a test tube. His core idea was never really about maps. It was about handing someone a scattered set of pieces and trusting that the act of putting them back together would be worth their time.

That is still the whole point of a MicroPuzzles puzzle. We use heavy recycled board, no-glare non-toxic inks, and pieces milled to interlock cleanly, all so the 60 to 90 minutes you spend on one of our puzzles feels focused instead of frustrating. We just built it for a different life than Spilsbury's students had. Our puzzles are designed to travel in a coat pocket, come out on a plane, or fill a break between meetings, portable in a way a mahogany board covered in a paper map never could be.

The format changed. The spirit did not.

FAQ: What people want to know

1. Who invented the jigsaw puzzle?

John Spilsbury, an English engraver, is widely credited as the inventor. Around 1765, he mounted maps on mahogany boards and cut them apart, calling his creations "Dissected Maps."

2. What was the first jigsaw puzzle actually made of?

Spilsbury's early puzzles used a printed map mounted on thin mahogany board, cut apart along country borders.

3. Why were early puzzles called "Dissected Maps" instead of jigsaw puzzles?

Because the term "jigsaw puzzle" did not exist yet. It only came into common use in 1909, once jigsaws (the narrow-bladed saw) became the standard tool for cutting puzzle pieces.

4. Does MicroPuzzles really own an original Spilsbury puzzle?

Yes. We own "North America in its Principal Divisions," by John Spilsbury, 1767, complete with its original box and label.

5. Can I see the original 1767 puzzle in person?

It is available for select private showings and media events. It is not on permanent public display.

6. When did the term "jigsaw puzzle" become common?

Not until 1909, nearly 150 years after Spilsbury's first Dissected Map.

7. How is a MicroPuzzles puzzle different from Spilsbury's original design?

Spilsbury designed for children learning geography on a mahogany board. We design for adults who want a portable, single-sitting puzzle they can finish in 60 to 90 minutes, made with recycled board and non-toxic inks, and packed into a reusable test tube.

8. Did John Spilsbury get to see his invention become popular?

No. He died in 1769 at 29 years old, only a few years after creating his first Dissected Map, long before the idea spread widely.

A Piece of the Original, Still in Every Piece We Make

It is a strange thing to realize that the puzzle in your hands today shares its DNA with a mahogany board an engraver cut apart in 1767. John Spilsbury never got to see where his idea went. We think about that every time we open a new design file.

We did not inherit his exact format, and we are not trying to recreate it. What we kept is the part that mattered most: the simple trust that scattering something apart, and giving someone the quiet satisfaction of putting it back together, is worth their time.

Next time you twist open a MicroPuzzles tube, you are holding a piece of that same idea. It just took a few centuries, and a much smaller box, to get to you.
Happy puzzling.