OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF CARDS AND THE
MARKS OF THE SUITS.
Having in the preceding chapters endeavoured to trace the origin of
Playing Cards, and to show their progress from the time of their first
introduction into Europe, I shall now proceed to give collectively some
account of the different kinds of cards, of the various marks that have
been employed to distinguish the suits, and of the changes that they
have undergone at different periods.
Most authors who have expressly written on the subject, agree in
distinguishing two kinds of cards, namely, those which they call
Tarocchi, or Tarots; and those, consisting of four suits, which are in
common use throughout Europe. It is a subject of dispute, among the
learned in these matters, which of those two kinds are of the greatest
antiquity; Court de Gebelin considers that Tarocchi cards were known
to the ancient Egyptians;[220] and Mons. Duchesne is pleased to assume
that certain so-called Tarocchi Cards, preserved in the Bibliothèque
du Roi, belonged to one of the three packs painted for Charles VI, by
Jacquemin Gringonneur, in 1393. Mons. Duchesne is also of opinion that
these cards were the same as those which were formerly called Naibi
in Italy; and in support of it, he alleges several authorities, which
seem to him to be decisive of the fact, but which really prove nothing
more than that Chartæ and Naibi were synonymous.[221] He produces no
evidence to show that the series of painted and engraved figures, now
usually called Tarocchi, were originally known either by that name,
or by that of cards; while from a passage cited by Mons. Leber, from
Raphael Volaterranus, it would appear that Tarocchi Cards, properly
so called, were not invented till towards the close of the fifteenth
century; and from the same author we learn that a pack of such cards
consisted of the four suits of common cards, together with twenty-two
symbolical figures, similar to those which are assumed by Mons.
Duchesne to have been the original Tarocchi. Tarocchi cards--called
Tarots by the French--are still used in several parts of France,
Germany, and Italy; and an account of the manner of playing the game
is to be found in the edition of the 'Académie des Jeux,' published by
Corbet, Paris, 1814.
Mons. Duchesne calls this game Tarocchino, and distinguishes it from
that played with the old series of figures, which he supposes to have
been the original Tarocchi; but so far from there being any evidence to
show that these figures were at their first introduction known either
by the name of Tarocchi or of Cards, there seems greater reason to
conclude that they have only obtained this name in comparatively recent
times, in consequence of some of them being used in combination with
common cards, at a game called Tarocchi, which was also the name given
to the cards with which it was played. The earliest writers who mention
Tarocchi as a kind of cards, always speak of them as consisting of
four suits,--Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money,--together with a certain
number of other cards, representing various characters and emblematical
figures.
A pack of Tarots,[222] as at present used in France, corresponds
in every particular with those called Tarocchi by writers of the
sixteenth century. It consists of seventy-eight cards; that is, of
four suits of numeral cards, and twenty-two emblematic cards, called
Atous.[223] The marks of the suits are usually Swords, Cups, Batons,
and Money; and each suit consists of fourteen cards, ten of which are
"pips" or low cards, and the other four are coat cards,--namely, King,
Queen, Chevalier, and Valet. Of the Atous, twenty-one are numbered
consecutively from 1 to 21; that which is not numbered is called
the Fou,--the Clown or Buffoon,--and in playing the game is usually
designated "Mat." The Fou has of itself no positive value, but augments
that of any of the other Atous to which it may be joined. The other
Atous are numbered and named as follows:
1. The Bateleur, or Juggler; called also Pagad. 2. Juno. 3. The
Empress.[224] 4. The Emperor. 5. Jupiter. 6. L'Amoureux. 7. The
Chariot. 8. Justice. 9. The Capuchin, called also the Hermit. 10. The
Wheel of Fortune. 11. Fortitude. 12. Le Pendu--a man suspended, head
downwards, by one leg. 13. Death. 14. Temperance. 15. The Devil. 16.
The Maison-Dieu, or Hospital--a tower struck by lightning. 17. The
Stars. 18. The Moon. 19. The Sun. 20. The Last Judgment. 21. The End of
the World.--Of these the first five are called _petits atous_, and the
last five _grands atous_. Seven cards are also especially distinguished
as Tarots, or Atous-tarots; these are the End of the World, the
Buffoon, the Bateleur, and the four Kings.[225]
According to Cicognara,[226] the inventor of the game of
Tarocchino,--or Tarots, as above described,--was an Italian, who
resided at Bologna, prior to the year 1419; and the account which he
gives is to the following effect: "There is preserved in the Fibbia
family, one of the most ancient and illustrious of that city, a
portrait of Francis Fibbia, Prince of Pisa,--who sought refuge at
Bologna, about the commencement of the fifteenth century,--in which
he is represented holding in his right hand a parcel of cards, while
others appear lying on the ground; among the latter are seen the
Queen of Batons, and the Queen of Money, the one being ornamented
with the arms of the Bentivoglio family, and the other with the arms
of the Fibbia. An inscription at the bottom of the picture informs us
that Francis Fibbia, who died in 1419, had obtained, as the inventor
of Tarocchino, from the _Reformers_ of the city, the privilege of
placing his own shield of arms on the Queen of Batons, and that of
his wife, who was of the Bentivoglio family, on the Queen of Money;
"a distinction," observes Mons. Duchesne, "which nevertheless does
not exclude the supposition that Francis Fibbia, Commander-in-chief
of the Bolognese forces, had rendered more important services to his
countrymen than teaching them to play at Tarocchino."
Supposing Cicognara's account to be correct, it yet proves nothing
with respect to the comparative antiquity of the two kinds of cards
which compose the pack for the game of Tarocchino, or Tarots. Mons.
Duchesne, however, having assumed that the old series of emblematic
figures called Tarocchi cards were the oldest, sees no difficulty in
the matter, but unhesitatingly concurs with Cicognara in ascribing the
invention of Tarocchino to Francis Fibbia, without inquiring whether
Fibbia had merely combined into one pack two kinds of cards already
well known, or whether he was the first deviser of the four suits
which constitute the most important portion of the pack, and which
give to the game all its spirit. Seeing that Fibbia was honoured for
his invention by the _Reforming_ magistracy of Bologna,--where both
card-playing and the manufacture of cards appear to have been pretty
extensively carried on about 1423,--the most probable conclusion
would be, that he had deserved well in their opinion, not from having
converted by new combinations a previously innocent and amusing game
into a hazardous and exciting one, but in consequence of his having
shuffled a few moral Tarocchi into the old pack of numeral cards
of four suits, whether of Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money, or of
Bells, Hearts, Leaves, and Acorns. In support of this conclusion, it
may further be observed, that though the manufacture of cards was
extensively carried on both in Italy and Germany, before the year 1450,
no so-called Tarocchi cards of that period have been discovered which
can fairly be supposed to have been intended, either from their size
or execution, for the common purposes of play; while, on the contrary,
there are in existence several specimens of numeral cards of four
suits, either stencilled or engraved on wood, and evidently of a cheap
manufacture, for common use, of a date not later than 1450.
The kind of game for which the emblematic figures usually called
Tarocchi cards were used, remains to be discovered. Mons. Duchesne
has, indeed, hazarded a conjecture on the subject, which is equally
incapable of refutation or of proof. "The number of players," he
says, "necessary to form a party, would scarcely be limited to two,
and probably might vary from three to twelve, or rather from three
to eight; and the manner of playing might simply consist in the
appropriate laying down of such of the figures as, according to an
order agreed upon, might belong to the suit of the card first played.
The holder of certain privileged cards would have doubtless some
additional advantage; and we may further suppose that each player
being obliged, in turn, to lay down a card drawn at random, striking
contrasts resulting from unexpected combinations would afford a subject
of amusement. This supposition would seem to agree with the subject
of a book entitled 'Les Cartes Parlantes,'[227] printed at Venice,
in 1545; each card there has conferred on it an interpretation or
allusion, more or less ingenious, applicable to the figure which it
represents: thus the Pope represents fidelity in the game and sincerity
in the player; the Emperor, the laws of the game; the Valets, the
service attached to the game; the Swords, the death of despairing
gamesters; the Batons, the punishment of those who cheat; Money, the
sustenance of play; and the Cups, the drink over which the players
settle their disputes." Mons. Duchesne's conjecture can scarcely be
said to be supported by the conceits of Aretine; who, moreover, in the
whole course of his book, speaks of cards as a hazardous, exciting
game, at which both money and credit might be lost; while Mons.
Duchesne asserts that the game played with Tarocchi was merely one of
amusement, originally devised to instruct children under the semblance
of play.
The earliest known specimens of what are called Tarocchi cards are
those preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi, at Paris, and which are
supposed by Mons. Duchesne to have formed a portion of one of the three
packs painted for the amusement of Charles VI, in 1393.[228] They
formerly belonged to Mons. de Gaignières, who had been governor to the
grandchildren of Louis XIV, and who bequeathed them, together with his
entire collection of prints and drawings, to the king, in 1711. Those
cards appear to have been seen in the possession of Mons. de Gaignières
by the Abbé de Longuerue;[229] and also by Dr. Martin Lister, who
thus mentions them in his account of his journey to Paris, in 1698: "I
waited upon the Abbot Droine to visit Mons. Guanieres [de Gaignières]
at his lodgings in the Hostel de Guise. One toy I took notice of,
which was a collection of playing cards for 300 years. The oldest were
three times bigger than what are now used, extremely well limned and
illuminated with gilt borders, and the pasteboard thick and firm; but
there was not a complete set of them."
The following particulars respecting those cards are chiefly derived
from Mons. Duchesne's description of them in his 'Observations sur les
Cartes à jouer,' published in the 'Annuaire Historique' for the year
1837. There are seventeen of them, and there can scarcely be a doubt of
their having formed part of a set of what are called Tarocchi cards,
which, when complete, consisted of fifty. They are painted on paper,
in the manner of illuminations in old manuscripts, on a gold ground,
which is in other parts marked with ornamental lines, formed by means
of points slightly pricked into the composition upon which the gilding
is laid. They are surrounded by a border of silver gilding, in which
there is also seen an ornament, formed in the same manner, by means of
points, representing a kind of scroll or twisted riband. Some parts of
the embroidery on the vestments of the different figures are heightened
with gold, while the weapons and armour are covered with silver,
which, like that on the borders, has for the most part become oxydized
through time. There is no inscription, letter, nor number, to indicate
the manner in which they were to be arranged. Mons. Leber agrees with
Mons. Duchesne in ascribing them to a French artist of the time of
Charles VI, and even seems inclined to conclude that they might have
been intended for the amusement of that lunatic king. Looking at those
cards, however, as they appear in the fac-similes published by the
Society of Bibliophiles Français, I should rather take them to be the
work of an Italian artist, and be inclined to conclude, as well from
the general style of the drawing as from the costume, that they were
not of an earlier date than 1425.
The following is Mons. Duchesne's enumeration of the seventeen cards
which he supposes to have been executed by Gringonneur: the names
in capitals are those which occur in a series of so-called Italian
Tarocchi cards, with which he considers them to correspond.
1. _Le Fou_--the Buffoon. This figure is found in the Tarots of the
present day, and is perhaps the same character as that which in the
series of old Italian engraving--called Tarocchi cards--is inscribed
MISERO I.
2. _L'Ecuyer_--the Squire. CHEVALIER VI.
3. _L'Empereur_--the Emperor. IMPERATOR VIIII.
4. _Le Pape_--the Pope. PAPA X.
5. _Les Amoureux_--the Lovers. Young men and women courting, while
two winged Cupids are discharging arrows at them. Mons. Duchesne
gravely queries whether this subject does not represent Apollo and
Diana killing the children of Niobe, and whether it ought not to be
considered as corresponding with APOLLO XX. It has, however, as little
relation to the story of Niobe as it has to Apollo, as figured in the
engraving referred to.
6. _La Fortune_--Fortune. This figure, standing on a circle which
represents the world, holds a globe in one hand, and in the other a
sceptre. Mons. Duchesne considers that it corresponds with that named
ASTROLOGIA, in the series of Italian engravings, and there erroneously
numbered XXXVIIII, instead of XXVIIII.--Bartsch, it seems had not
observed this error.
7. _La Tempérance_--Temperance. TEMPERANCIA XXXIIII.
8. _La Force_--Fortitude. FORTEZZA XXXVI.
9. _La Justice_--Justice. JUSTICIA XXXVII.
10. _La Lune_--the Moon. LUNA XXXXI.
11. _Le Soleil_--the Sun. SOL XXXXIIII.
12. _Le Char_--the Chariot. The subject here is a figure in armour,
standing on a kind of triumphal car, and having in his right hand a
battle-axe. Mons. Duchesne says that this subject certainly corresponds
with MARTE XXXXV.
13. _L'Ermite_--the Hermit. This figure is supposed to correspond with
that named SATURNO XXXXVII.
The four following subjects have no corresponding figures in the series
of old Italian engravings, supposed by Mons. Duchesne and others to be
Tarocchi cards: they are, however, to be found among the "Atous" of the
modern game of Tarots.
14. _Le Pendu_--A man hanging from one leg, head downwards. Court de
Gebelin, speaking of this figure as it is seen in a modern pack of
Tarots, conjectures, with his usual absurdity, that the card-maker had
erroneously represented it upside down. On turning it the contrary way,
he sees in it an emblem of Prudence,--to wit, a man standing upon one
foot, and sagely deliberating where he has to place the other.--The
figure of Le Pendu, even when thus viewed, is much more like a capering
opera-dancer, than a prudent philosopher cautiously picking his steps;
and bears not the slightest resemblance to the figure of Prudence, in
the series of old engravings, called Tarocchi cards.
15. _La Mort_--Death.
16. _La Maison-Dieu_--The Hospital. A tower struck by lightning.
17. _Le Jugement dernier_--The last Judgment.
[Illustration: Old Painted Cards ascribed to Gringonneur.--'La
Justice.' (p. 198)]
[Illustration: Old Painted Cards ascribed to Gringonneur.--'La Lune.'
(p. 198.)]
These seventeen subjects, engraved in lithography, and carefully
coloured by hand after the original drawings, are given in the 'Jeux
de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numérales,' published by the Society of
Bibliophiles Français, 1844. The two annexed cuts will afford some
idea of the style of the drawing, and of the manner in which the
ornaments are pricked into the gold ground. They are of the same size
as the originals; the one is that named Justice, No. 9, and the other
that named La Lune, No. 10, in the preceding enumeration. It may be
here observed that the latter is totally different from that named
LUNA XXXXI, in the series of old Italian engravings, with which it is
supposed by Mons. Duchesne to correspond: the only figure common to
both is that of a crescent moon. The drawing indeed seems to be an
emblem of Astrology, which, in the Italian engravings, is represented
by a winged female figure, having on her head a crown of stars, and
holding in her left hand a book, and in her right a divining rod.
The complete series of old Italian engravings, known to collectors
of prints by the name of Tarocchi cards, consists of fifty pieces,
divided into five classes distinguished by the first five letters of
the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, but numbered consecutively from 1 to
50, commencing with the class marked E. At the foot of each subject
is engraved its name; together with the letter of its class, and
its number, which is given both in Roman and Arabic numerals,--the
Roman being placed immediately after the name, and the Arabic on the
extreme right. The distinctive letter of the class is on the left.
Zani[230] has conjectured that the letters might have been intended for
abbreviations of Atutto, Battoni, Coppe, Denari, and Espadone,--Atous,
Batons, Cups, Money, and Swords. _Spadone_, however, and not
_Espadone_, is the proper Italian name for swords; but as the names are
in the Venetian dialect, Mons. Duchesne appears inclined to allow that
the form _Espadone_ might have been admitted into it at that period.
That the letters, however, had no such meaning, and that they were
merely used to mark the order of each class, seems to be proved by the
fact that in another set of the same subjects, executed about the same
period, the numeral 5 is substituted for the letter E. Even if Zani's
supposition were correct, it would only strengthen the conclusion that
those so-called Tarocchi cards originated in an attempt to recombine,
under new emblems, the principles of an old game which had acquired a
disreputable character. Whatever the game might have been, it has long
become obsolete; and the only reason for supposing it to have been
cognate with that of cards, is grounded on the fact that a certain
number of the characters of those so-called Tarocchi cards occur as
Atous in the pack of Tarocchi or Tarots, previously described.
Of those old Italian engravings there are two series known to amateurs,
agreeing in the subjects, but differing in their style of execution;
though it is evident that the one has been copied from the other.[231]
In one of them, which is considered by Bartsch to be the earliest,
the date 1485 is inscribed on a tablet in the hands of the figure
named Arithmeticha XXV.[232] In the other series, which is by much the
best engraved, and is certainly the earliest, there is no date; and
the figure which there represents Arithmetic, appears to be counting
money. This series Mons. Duchesne thinks was executed about 1470;
and some writers have supposed that the subjects were engraved by
Tomaso Finiguerra. Zani, however, is inclined to believe that they
were engraved at Padua; while Otley ascribes them to a Florentine
artist. Seeing, however, that the names are in the Venetian dialect,
and that authorities on the subject of old Italian engraving disagree
with respect to them, I am inclined to suppose, without any regard to
their style of execution, that they were either engraved by a Venetian
artist, or for the Venetian market. It has also been supposed, but
erroneously, that they were designed by Andrea Mantegna, to whom a
number of other things of a similar kind have, with equal probability,
been ascribed; and amongst the dealers in old engravings, at Paris,
they are commonly known as Cartes de Baldini. Both the originals and
the copies are of great rarity; and though several single subjects
are to be found in the possession of amateurs, it is questionable if
there be more than four collections in Europe, whether private or
national, that have either the one series or the other complete. In
the British Museum there is a complete series of the originals, and
also forty-five of the copies; the five pieces wanting in the latter
are: MISERO I, FAMEIO II, IMPERADOR VIIII, PRIMO MOBILE XXXXVIIII, and
PRIMA CAUSA XXXXX. There is also a complete series of the originals, in
the 'Bibliothèque du Roi;' and copies of them are given in the 'Jeux
de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numérales,' published by the Society
of Bibliophiles Français. Fac-similes of two,--PAPA X and RHETORICA
XXIII,--are also given by Singer in his 'Researches into the History of
Playing Cards.' From their size--about nine inches and three quarters
high, by about four inches wide,--as well as from other circumstances,
Mr. Singer considers that they were not intended for any game analogous
to that of cards, properly so called. Mons. Leber considers them to
have been merely "Cartes de Fantaisie," and observes that subjects so
delicately engraved on copper, when the invention of the art was still
recent, could scarcely have been intended to receive the colouring
required for the completion of a pack of cards.[233] It, however, may
be observed that colour is not essential to a pack of playing cards;
and that several packs of cards of four suits, evidently intended for
play, without being coloured, were delicately engraved on copper,
before the end of the fifteenth century.
Even Mons. Duchesne, while contending that those fifty old engravings
were really Tarocchi cards, admits that they bear no relation to any
games played with numeral cards, which, according to the number of
players, and the regulations of each game, always consist of a number
which is divisible by four; for instance, 20 for Bouillotte; 28 for
Brelan; 32 for Piquet, and several other games; 36 for Trappola; 40 for
Ombre; 48 for Reversis; 52 for Lansquenet, and several other games; 96
for Comet; 104 for Lottery; 312 for Trente-et-un; and 78 for Tarots.
"The ancient Tarocchi cards," he says, "have not then been intended
for games of calculation [jeux mathématiques], but solely for an
instructive game. In this game, consisting of five classes, we find the
seven planets, representing the celestial system; the seven virtues
which constitute the basis of all morality; the sciences, which man
alone is capable of acquiring, and the knowledge of which raises him
above all other animals; the Muses, whose cultivation yields so many
charms to life; finally, several of the conditions of life in which man
may be placed, from misery, the most painful of all, to that of the
most elevated, the Sovereign Pontificate."[234] A complete series of
those old engravings consists of fifty pieces, as has been previously
observed, named and numbered as follows:
[CLASS E.--_The Conditions of Life._]
E MISERO I 1
E FAMEIO II 2
E ARTIXAN III 3
E MERCHADANTE IIII 4
E ZINTILOMO V 5
E CHAVALIER VI 6
E DOXE VII 7
E RE VIII 8
E IMPERATOR VIIII 9
E PAPA X 10
[CLASS D.--_The Muses._]
D CALIOPE XI 11
D URANIA XII 12
D TERPSICORE XIII 13
D ERATO XIIII 14
D POLIMNIA XV 15
D TALIA XVI 16
D MELPOMENE XVII 17
D EUTERPE XVIII 18
D CLIO XVIIII 19
D APOLLO XX 20
[CLASS C.--_The Sciences._]
C GRAMMATICA XXI 21
C LOICA XXII 22
C RHETORICA XXIII 23
C GEOMETRIA XXIIII 24
C ARITHMETICHA XXV 25
C MUSICHA XXVI 26
C POESIA XXVII 27
C PHILOSOFIA XXVIII 28
C ASTROLOGIA XXXVIIII[235]39
C THEOLOGIA XXX 30
[Class B.--_The Virtues._]
B ILIACO XXXI 31
B CHRONICO XXXII 32
B COSMICO XXXIII 33
B TEMPERANCIA XXXIIII 34
B PRVDENCIA XXXV 35
B FORTEZA XXXVI 36
B JUSTICIA XXXVII 37
B CHARITA XXXVIII 38
B SPERANZA XXXVIIII 39
B FEDE XXXX 40
[Class A.--_The Celestial System._]
A LUNA XXXXI 41
A MERCURIO XXXXII 42
A VENUS XXXXIII 43
A SOL XXXXIIII 44
A MARTE XXXXV 45
A JUPITER XXXXVI 46
A SATURNO XXXXVII 47
A OCTAVA SPERA XXXXVIII 48
A PRIMO MOBILE XXXXVIIII 49
A PRIMA CAUSA XXXXX 50
Having now given such an account of the so-called Tarocchi cards, as
may enable the reader to determine for himself, both with respect to
their original use, and their relation to playing cards proper, I shall
now proceed to notice some of the principal varieties of numeral cards;
that is, of cards consisting of four suits, and each suit containing a
certain number of coat cards, together with eight or ten lower cards,
having their numeral value designated by the marks of the suit to which
they belong.
The oldest specimens of undoubted playing cards are either stencilled,
or engraved on wood; and of a date which, looking at the style of
their execution, the drawing, and the costume of the figures, cannot
fairly be supposed to be later than 1440. Amongst the earliest are the
stencilled cards preserved in the print-room of the British Museum, and
previously described at page 89. In these the coat cards appear to have
been a King, a Chevalier, and a Fante, Footman, or Knave; without any
Queen. The marks of three of the suits are Hearts, Bells, and Acorns;
the mark of the fourth suit does not occur,--as the specimens preserved
are far short of a complete pack,--but it is highly probable that it
was Leaves, called Grün by the Germans, as in the old pack formerly
belonging to Dr. Stukeley, and described by Mr. Gough, in the eighth
volume of the 'Archæologia.'
The cards formerly belonging to Dr. Stukeley were given to him by
Thomas Rawlinson, Esq.[236] They were found in the cover of an old
book,--supposed to be an edition of Claudian, printed before the year
1500,--and one or two leaves of an edition of the Adagia of Erasmus
were interspersed between the layers of the cards, thus forming a
kind of pasteboard. The marks of the suits are Hearts, Bells, Leaves,
and Acorns; and the coat cards are the King, Chevalier, and Knave.
The numeral value of the lower cards, from the Deuce to the Ten, is
indicated by a repetition of the marks of the suits, as in modern
cards. As there is no Ace, this pack, supposing it to be complete,
would consist of forty-eight cards. These cards are rudely coloured,
and of smaller size than those in the British Museum. On the Deuce
of every suit is a shield, displaying what is supposed to be the
card-maker's arms, namely, a kind of pick-axe, with one of the ends
blunt like a hammer, and a mallet, in saltire. Fac-similes of Dr.
Stukeley's cards are given in Singer's Researches.
As the distinctive marks of the suits on the oldest cards in existence
are Hearts, Bells, Leaves, and Acorns, it may reasonably be supposed
that these marks were used at as early a period as any of the others
which occur on cards of a later date, but yet executed before the
close of the fifteenth century. Next to these in point of antiquity,
and perhaps of as early a date, are Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money,
which would appear to have been the most common marks on early Italian
cards, and to have been almost exclusively adopted in Spain. For the
sake of distinction, in future, cards with these marks will be referred
to as Spanish cards, as in Spain the suits are still distinguished by
Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money; while cards having Hearts, Bells,
Leaves, and Acorns, will be referred to as German cards, as such appear
to have been the kind most generally used in Germany. Of the marks on
what were more particularly called "French cards," in the sixteenth
century,--Cœur, Trèfle, Pique, and Carreau, or as we call them,
Hearts, Clubs, Spades, and Diamonds,--two of them at least, the Cœur
and the Pique, are evidently derived from the Heart and the Leaf of the
earlier pack, while there is good reason to believe that the form of
the Trèfle was copied from that of the Acorn.[237]
The mark now called the _Trèfle_, in France, was formerly known as the
Fleur. Peignot, referring to a poem entitled "La Magdaleine au Désert
de la Sainte-Baume en Provence," printed at Lyons, in 1668, says: "We
learn from this poem that, in 1668, the word _Trèfle_ was not yet in
use, as the designation of one of the suits of cards; that suit was
then called _Fleurs_. The Valets were also then termed _Fous_."
The type of the Carreau, or Diamond, is not to be found in any of the
marks of the other two packs above noticed. In the time of Pietro
Aretine, the suits of French cards appear to have been known in Italy
by the names of Cori, Quadri, Fiori, and Cappari,[238] as we learn
from his 'Carte Parlanti,' first printed in 1545, in which a Paduan
card-maker holds a long dialogue, moral and entertaining, with his
cards:
"_Paduan._ As French cards are used in Italy, tell me, I pray, what,
amongst that people, may be the signification of Capers? [Cappari.]
_Cards._ Their piquancy whets the appetite of tavern-haunters.
_Paduan._ And the Diamonds? [Quadri.]
_Cards._ The firmness of the player.
_Paduan._ And the Hearts? [Cori.]
_Cards._ Inclination to cheat in play.
_Paduan._ And the Flowers? [Fiori.]
_Cards._ The pleasure of saying a good thing."[239]
The invention of cards with these marks, and having a Queen for the
second coat card, instead of a male figure, as in the Spanish and
German cards, has been claimed by the French; and this substitution
has been considered by some French writers as peculiarly characteristic
of the gallantry of their nation. The French also appear to have
been the first who gave to their coat cards the names of historical
personages. From those names, and the marks of the suits, Père Daniel
has been enabled to discover the origin and meaning of the game of
Piquet, which he supposes to have been devised about 1430, in the reign
of Charles VII; admitting, however, that Playing Cards of another kind
were of a much earlier date, but yet considering even these to have
been of French invention.
In the time of Père Daniel, the coat cards were named as follows:
SUIT. KINGS. QUEENS. VALETS.
CŒUR. _CHARLEMAGNE._ _JUDITH._ _LA HIRE._
CARREAU. _CÆSAR._ _RACHEL._ _HECTOR._
TREFLE. _ALEXANDER._ _ARGINE._ _LANCELOT._[240]
PIQUE. _DAVID._ _PALLAS._ _HOGIER._
These names, which appear to have been given to the French coat cards,
at an early period, were not uniformly retained; in the time of Henry
IV, the Kings were Solomon, Augustus, Clovis, and Constantine; and the
Queens, Elizabeth, Dido, Clotilde, and "Pantalisea;" while the Valets
had no proper names, but were merely designated from their office, and
all the characters appeared in the costume of the period. In the reign
of Louis XIV, however, the former names and an antique costume were
restored.
According to Père Daniel's reading of the cards, which is of the same
ingenious character as that of the soldier who is said to have used his
pack as a Manual of Devotions,[241] the Ace is the Latin As, a piece of
money, which also signifies wealth; and as money is the sinews of war,
the Ace has for this reason the precedence at Piquet. The Trèfle, or
clover plant, which abounds in the meadows of France, denotes that a
general ought always to encamp his army in a place where he may obtain
forage for his cavalry. Piques and Carreaux signify magazines of arms,
which ought always to be well stored. The Carreaux were a kind of heavy
arrows which were shot from a crossbow, and which were so called from
their heads being squared [carré]. Cœurs,--Hearts,--signified the
courage of the commanders and the soldiers.
David, Alexander, Cæsar, and Charlemagne are at the head of the four
suits at Piquet, because troops, however brave and numerous, yet
require prudent and experienced leaders. The Queens are, Argine, for
Trèfle; Rachel, for Carreau; Pallas, for Pique; and Judith, for Cœur.
In Argine, Père Daniel finds the anagram of Regina, and having made
this capital discovery, he is enabled to determine that this Queen was
Mary of Anjou, wife of Charles VII. Rachel represents the fair Agnes
Sorel, mistress of Charles VII; and the chaste and warlike Pallas is
but an emblem of Joan of Arc. Judith is not the Jewish heroine who cut
off the head of Holofernes, but the Empress Judith, wife of Louis le
Debonnaire; but even this Judith is merely a representative of Isabel
of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI. In David he sees a typification of
Charles VII, in consequence of a conformity in their destinies: David,
after having been long persecuted by Saul, his father-in-law, at length
obtained the crown; but, in the midst of his prosperity, was troubled
with the revolt of his son Absalom: and Charles VII, after having been
disinherited and proscribed by his father Charles VI,--or rather by
Isabel of Bavaria,--gloriously reconquered his kingdom; but the latter
years of his life were rendered unhappy by the restless spirit and
wicked character of his son, Louis XI.
In his account of the Valets, Père Daniel is not so imaginative as
in the explication of the double and triple characters which he sees
represented by the Kings and Queens. La Hire is the famous Stephen de
Vignoles, surnamed La Hire, a devoted adherent of Charles VII; while
Hector is supposed to be intended for Hector de Galard, another famous
captain of the same period. Hogier and Lancelot are allowed to pass
simply in their own proper characters, as heroes of romance.[242]
It would appear to be the opinion of Mons. Duchesne, that the oldest
French Piquet cards that have been discovered, are those formerly
belonging to a Mons. Henin, who found them in the cover of an old book.
Mons. Henin having disposed of them to Messrs. Colnaghi, the well-known
printsellers, of London, they were purchased of the latter for the
Bibliothèque du Roi. They are engraved on wood, and coloured; and in
the table of contents prefixed to the 'Jeux de Tarots et de Cartes
Numérales,' it is asserted they were executed about 1425.[243] But
whatever may be their date, they are not, in my opinion, of so early
a period as either the old uncoloured cards, preserved in the British
Museum, previously described at page 88; or as those formerly belonging
to Dr. Stukeley. I indeed question much if they be really older than
the coloured French cards, the four Valets, now in the British Museum,
and of which some account will be found in a subsequent page.
The old French cards in question have the outlines printed in pale ink,
and the colours appear to have been applied by means of a stencil.
There are ten of them, all impressed on one piece of paper; and they
are placed in two rows, of five each, in the following order:
VALET, KING and QUEEN of _Trèfle_. KING and QUEEN of _Carreau_.
VALET, QUEEN and KING of _Pique_. QUEEN and KING of _Cœur_.
On each of those cards, except the King of Cœur, there is an
inscription in Gothic letters. On the Valet of Trèfle is the name
ROLAN, while the King is named FAUT-SOU,--Penniless; and the Queen,
TROMPERIE,--Deceit. The King of Carreau bears the name COURSUBE, which
in old romances is the name given to a Saracen King; and on the Queen
of Carreau is the inscription _En toi te fie_,--Trust to thyself; "that
is," says Mons. Duchesne, "ne te fie qu'en toi,--trust to thyself only.
The Valet of Pique bears an inscription which Mons. Duchesne reads
_ctarde_, and of which he says he can make nothing. On the Queen of
Pique is an inscription which appears to Mons. Duchesne to be _te aut
dict_, but the meaning of which he cannot divine. Mons. Leber, however,
reads it _Léauté due_,--leal homage; and so gives it, in unmistakable
characters, in the copy of this card, in his 'Etudes Historiques.' The
King of Pique bears the name of APOLLIN, which is the name given to a
Saracen idol in old romances. The inscription on the Queen of Cœur is
_la foy et pdu_--la foi est perdue,--faith is lost.
It is supposed that there was also an inscription on the King of Cœur,
but that it has been cut off, as this card is deficient in its due
proportions.[244] The annexed four cards, executed in their proper
colours, are copied from those given by Mons. Leber in his 'Etudes
Historiques.' The whole ten are given in the 'Jeux de Tarots et de Jeux
Numérales,' published by the Society of Bibliophiles Français.
Mons. Leber considers that the names Coursube and Apollin, which occur
on these cards, corroborate his opinion that cards were of Eastern
origin, and introduced into Europe by the Saracens, or Arabs.[245]
Though agreeing with Mons. Leber, in the opinion that cards
are of Eastern origin, I cannot yet see how this opinion is confirmed
by two names, which, as designating a Moorish king, and a Mahometan
idol, appear to have been merely the invention of a French romance
writer, and to have been capriciously bestowed upon a King of Diamonds
and a King of Hearts by an old French card-maker. The supposition,
indeed, that figures with these names were to be found on old Arabic
cards is most preposterous; there is not a shadow of evidence to show
that any characters, whether real or imaginary, were ever popularly
known by these names, amongst people of Arabic origin; and even if
there were, the painting them upon cards would have been considered as
a violation of the law of Mahomet, by whom all such representations
were strictly prohibited. With equal probability, Mons. Leber might
assert that cards were a Jewish invention, because the names of
David, Rachel, and Judith are to be found on them; or that Piquet was
invented in the time of Charlemagne, in consequence of one of the Kings
bearing his name, and two of the Valets being named after two of his
Paladins,--Hogier and Roland. The long note in the 'Précis Historique
sur les Cartes à jouer,' pp. 13-17, on the subject of Coursube and
Apollin, and Mons. Leber's more lengthy comment on it, have much of
the character of that kind of discussion which was compared by Demonax
to one man milking a he-goat, and another holding a sieve to catch the
milk.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The originals of the annexed four cards, representing the Valets,
or Knaves, of the four suits known in England as Hearts, Diamonds,
Clubs, and Spades, are, in my opinion, of, at least, as early a date
as the cards containing the names Coursube and Apollin. Mons. Duchesne
and Mons. Leber, judging from the costume of the last-named cards,
agree in supposing, or, rather, confidently asserting, that they
were executed about 1425, in the reign of Charles VII. Conclusions,
however, drawn from the costume displayed on cards are not of much
weight in the determination of a date, seeing that persons supposed to
be well acquainted with the subject of costume have not been able to
determine, from that alone, the date of any old drawing, even within
fifty years. To whatever period the costume of the "Coursube" cards
may belong, that of the four Knaves may be fairly presumed to be of as
early a period; but yet, looking at the costume of the latter, and the
style of their execution, I should not take them to be of an earlier
date than 1480. Supposing them to be of that date, I think it will be
generally admitted, by all acquainted with the subject, that, in point
of drawing, as expressive of action and character, they may fairly rank
with the best specimens of wood-engraving executed previously to that
period.
Those four Knaves, which are now in the print-room of the British
Museum, were discovered by the writer, in the covers of an old
book, which he bought of Mr. Robert Crozier, bookseller, 27, Bow
Street, about the latter end of December, 1841. The book, which is
a small quarto, had formerly belonged to the Cathedral Library of
Peterborough,[246] and its subject is the Sermons of St. Vincent de
Ferrer, a Spanish friar, of great repute in his day, who died in 1419:
it wanted both the title-page and the last leaf, and, consequently, had
no date; but, looking at the character of the type,--old Gothic--and
the rude execution of the initial letters, I should conclude that it
was printed in France, within the last ten years of the fifteenth
century. The other leaves forming, with the cards, the "boards"
of the cover, were portions of the gloss, or commentary, of Nicholas
de Lyra, on the Old Testament; which leaves, apparently, are of a
date somewhat older than the volume. Seeing that old cards have so
often been found in the covers of old books, it might be conjectured
that certain pious persons had made it a point of conscience to thus
employ them, for useful purposes; this supposition is, however,
rendered untenable by the fact of those cards being intermixed with
the pious lucubrations of Nicholas de Lyra. Besides the two squares of
paper containing the four Knaves, there were also two other squares,
consisting of "pips" of Diamonds and Hearts, which were so arranged
that each square of paper might be cut into four cards: the low cards
on one square were, the Nine, Four, Five, and Seven of Diamonds; and
those on the other, the Ten, Four, Five, and Eight of Hearts. The
"pips" on those low cards were evidently impressed by means of a
stencil.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
On one square of paper were the Valets of Clubs and Spades,--Lancelot
and Hogier; and on another, the Valets of Diamonds and Hearts,--that
of Diamonds being named Rolant, and that of Hearts containing the
inscription, "Valery: f." Though each piece of paper contained _four_
cards, it yet displayed only two different characters,--the Valet of
each suit occurring on it being repeated in the alternate compartments.
The outlines of the figures and the names have evidently been engraved
on wood, and are printed in a brownish colour,--something like Indian
ink mixed with bistre; and the colours have been laid on by means of
stencils. The names of these Valets,--Rolant, "Valery: f," Lancelot,
and Hogier,--compared with those occurring on other French cards of
an early date, seem to prove that, originally, the French coat cards
received their names merely at the caprice of the card-maker. Any
argument, therefore, respecting the origin of cards, or the invention
of Piquet, as founded on the names of the coat cards, must be utterly
without foundation.
With respect to the names of those Valets, it seems to be generally
agreed that Roland, spelled Rolant on the cards, was the nephew of
Charlemagne, so famed in romance, and that Hogier, or Ogier, was the
renowned Hogier of Denmark. According to a modern author, this hero was
a grandson of Pepin of Heristal, the great-grandfather of Charlemagne;
and the appellation, "of Denmark," was conferred on him, not from his
being of that kingdom, but from his being a native of Dane-marche, that
is, of the district now called Ardennes. The same author also informs
us, that Hogier was a descendant of St. Hubert of Ardennes; and, for
a confirmation of the fact, refers to the dog seen in an old Valet of
Spades, of which he gives a copy in his work: in the irregular line of
the more distant ground, in the same card, he sees an indication of
the uneven surface of the district of Ardennes.[247] An inspection of
the four Valets in question will enable any person to decide on the
value of his speculations: three of those Valets,--Rolant, Hogier, and
Lancelot,--are accompanied by dogs; and the line of the more distant
ground in two of the subjects is nearly level; while the slight
eminence in the third--Rolant--evidently indicates a rabbit-burrow. If
such stuff as Mons. Barrois drivels forth on the subject of cards pass
for antiquarian knowledge in France, it would seem that an ass-load of
useless book-learning constituted the grand qualification of a French
antiquary.
With respect to Lancelot, the reader is left to determine whether the
name were intended for one of the Paladins of the court of Charlemagne,
or Lancelot du Lac, one of the Knights of King Arthur's Round Table.
The appearance of this name on the Valet of Clubs proves that Daniel
was right in his conjecture, as has been previously observed; though
Mons. Leber seems to argue that he either was, or ought to have been,
wrong.[248]
The name VALERY, which occurs on the Knave of Hearts, has not been
found on any one of the other old cards hitherto discovered; and from
the circumstance of its having the letter _f_ after it, which might
be intended to signify "_fecit_" it might be supposed that it was
the card-maker's name. It is, however, to be observed that the word
"_fecit_" is of very rare occurrence, as signifying the work of the
artist whose name precedes it, on engravings, for whatever purpose
executed, of the fifteenth century. It may even be asserted, with small
hazard of contradiction, that _f_ as an abbreviation of "_fecit_," in
its artistic application, is not to be found on a single engraving,
whether on wood or copper, executed previous to the year 1500.
For whatever person the name of Valery may have been intended, it
seems certain that it is not to be found as that of a distinguished
character in any of the old French romances. Mons. Paulin Paris, having
been consulted on this subject, thus gives his opinion, in a letter
addressed to his friend, Thomas Wright, Esq., so well known for his
numerous publications on Middle-Age Literature: "The name of the Valet
of Hearts seems to me extremely curious, for it ought necessarily to
bring to mind the name of _Erart de Valeri_, the famous companion of
Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily, to whom his contemporaries chiefly
ascribed the gain of the battle of Tagliacozza, in which Manfred [the
opponent of Charles] was killed.[249] It might, therefore, be supposed
that the pack [to which the four Valets in question belonged] was
either of Sicilian or Italian fabrication; for the names Lancelot,
Roland, Ogier, and Valeri were equally familiar to the Sicilians of the
fourteenth century. I have said a few words about this Erard de Valery
in the article on Charles of Anjou, in my Romancero François."[250]
Though by no means agreeing with Mons. Paulin Paris, that these cards
were either of Italian devising, or manufacture, I am yet inclined to
think that his conjecture about the name of Valery is correct, and that
a corroboration of it is to be found in the inscription on the Valet
de Pique, in the "Coursube" cards, previously noticed at page 211. This
inscription is read _ctarde_, by Mons. Duchesne; but, to my eye, the
letters, as they appear in the fac-simile given in the specimens of
cards published by the Society of Bibliophiles François, appear much
more like the name _erarde_; and if, on a careful examination of the
original, it should be ascertained that this was the word intended, I
should then unhesitatingly conclude that the person represented by this
card was Erard de Valery. The objection that one of those cards is the
Valet of Hearts, and the other the Valet of Spades, is of no weight,
for the old French card-makers were by no means consistent in the
practice of always giving the same name to the same card. From the red
rose which appears on the shield held by Valery, an Englishman might be
justified in supposing that those cards, if not of English manufacture,
were more especially, if not exclusively, fabricated for the English
market, at a period shortly after the accession of Henry VII,[251] when
the Red Rose of Lancaster had obtained the ascendency. By assuming,
indeed, a small portion of French license on this subject, it might
even be asserted that those cards were of English manufacture; seeing
that they were discovered in the covers of a book which had formerly
belonged to an English monastery, and that the features, expression,
and bodily proportions of the Valets are rather characteristic of
Englishmen than Frenchmen. In support of this speculation, it may
further be observed that, in former times, monks were accustomed to act
as their own bookbinders, and that there is reason to believe that
playing cards were manufactured in England as early as 1463.[252]
In the latter quarter of the fifteenth century, several packs, or sets,
of cards were engraved on copper, having the suits distinguished by
figures evidently introduced according to the fancy of the artist, and
bearing no resemblance to those which occur on cards of an earlier
date. As the art of engraving on copper was then of recent invention,
and its productions comparatively scarce and high priced, it may be
concluded that those cards were chiefly intended for the amusement of
the wealthier classes. Though Mons. Leber is of opinion that such cards
were not intended for the purpose of play, it is yet certain that they
might be so employed; seeing that they consist of the same number of
suits as the common cards of the period, and have also in each suit,
like the latter, a certain number of coat cards, and a certain number
of others which have their value determined by the number of marks
impressed on them. One of Mons. Leber's reasons for concluding that
such cards were not intended for the purposes of play, is, that being
delicately engraved on copper, it cannot be supposed that they were
meant to receive the colouring which, in his opinion, was essential to
a pack of cards.[253] It may, however, be observed that people may play
very well with uncoloured cards, more especially when the suits are so
strikingly distinguished as in the cards alluded to.
Perhaps the earliest specimens of the cards in question are those which
have Hares, Parroquets, Pinks, and Columbines as the marks of the
suits, and of which a complete pack, or set, of fifty-two pieces, is
now in the Bibliothèque du Roi.[254] They are not cut up, but appear
just as they came from the hands of the printer, and each separate
piece of paper contains either four or six cards. The four Aces form
one plate; the numeral cards from Four to Nine are contained on four
plates; and the Twos and Threes appear promiscuously mixed with the
coat cards on five plates more.
[Illustration: 1
Circular Cards. XVth Century. (p. 222)]
[Illustration: 2
Circular Cards. XVth Century. (p. 222.)]
[Illustration: 3
Circular Cards. XVth Century. (p. 222.)]
[Illustration: 4
Circular Cards. XVth Century. (p. 222.)]
The form of these cards is circular, and in each suit there are four
coat cards, namely, a King, a Queen, a Squire, and a Knave.[255]
The distinction between the two latter is not indeed very clearly
expressed in the costume; though there cannot be a doubt that the
lowest character is that which in each suit is represented as running,
and thus plainly corresponding with the Italian Fante. The highest
of the numeral cards is the Nine, there being no Ten in this pack.
The respective number of each is marked at the top in Arabic cyphers,
and at the bottom in Roman numerals. At the bottom also, within the
outer circle of the border, are the letters T. W., probably intended
for the initials of the engraver.[256] Whoever he might be, his name
is unknown; and only one other subject of his engraving is noticed by
Bartsch. In the annexed specimens are shown the King, Queen, and Ace
of Hares; the Squire of Columbines; the Deuce and Squire of Pinks;
and the Knave and Nine of Parroquets. On each of the Aces there is an
inscription on a scroll, as on the Ace of Hares; on the latter, the
language is low German--"Platt Duitsch"--and the words form a rhyming
couplet:
AV͞E MI DRINT MĒ VIN,
DAEROM MOT IC EN LEPUS SIN.
The precise meaning of this it is not easy to make out; but taking the
contracted word AV͞E to have been intended for _Auwe_, a meadow, the
couplet may be thus "done into English:"
Me o'er fields men keen pursue,
Therefore I'm the Hare you view.
But supposing the word AV͞E to have been meant for _Augen_, the eyes,
and giving a slight turn to one or two other words, the meaning would
be that the hare was called LEPUS--quasi _Lippus_--on account of its
blear eyes.
Mons. Duchesne says that, on the plate containing the Aces, there is a
date written in an old hand, but he omits to mention what it
is. In the 'Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numérales,' where all
the fifty-two pieces are given, they are said to have been engraved
about 1477. These cards, though of the same form, and having the same
marks of the suits as those described by Bartsch, and noticed by
Singer, are yet the work of a different engraver.
In the circular cards described by Bartsch and Singer, the inscription
on the Ace of Hares is in Latin, and the initials of the engraver, T.
W., are wanting. From a wrapper, of which a fac-simile is given by
Singer, it would appear that those cards were engraved at Cologne;
and it has been supposed that they are of as early a date as 1470.
They are unquestionably the work of either a German or a Flemish
artist; and some amateurs of engraving have erroneously ascribed them
to Martin Schön, or Schöngauer. Bartsch, in his description of them,
includes a fifth suit, namely, that of Roses; and says that each suit
consisted of thirteen cards, which would thus give sixty-five pieces
for the complete pack. Mr. Singer, also, in his account of such of
those cards as were formerly in the collection of Mr. Douce, gives it
as his opinion, that the complete pack ought to consist of five suits
of fourteen cards each,--in all, seventy pieces.[257] Mons. Duchesne,
however, thinks that those authors are wrong, and that the complete
pack consisted of only four suits of thirteen cards each, as displayed
by those preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi. But as he entirely
overlooks the difficulty of accounting for a suit of Roses, engraved
in the same style, he does not seem to be justified in pronouncing
so decisively that Bartsch and Singer are wrong in supposing that a
complete pack consisted of five suits; for it is by no means unlikely
that a fifth suit might have been introduced by the artist, with
a view of giving variety to the game, but which might have been
subsequently discarded, as inconsistent with the old established
principles of the game, and as only making it more interesting.
There is another pack, or set, of cards, also engraved on copper, and
of the same period as those last described, which seems to require some
notice here, not only on account of the marks employed to distinguish
the suits, but also on account of the means by which those marks were
repeated on the different cards. The complete pack appears to have
consisted of fifty-two pieces; each of the four suits containing four
coat and nine numeral cards--the place of the Ten, as in the other two
packs, being supplied by a fourth coat card. The marks of the suits
are: 1, Human figures; 2, Bears and Lions; 3, Deer; and 4, Birds. These
cards are of large size, being about five inches and seven eighths
high, by about three and a half wide. The name of the engraver is
unknown; but they are believed to be the work of the German artist
usually known to amateurs as "The Master of 1466." In the coat cards
the mark of the suit is impressed from a different plate; and as it
sometimes occurs surrounded by the work of the coat card, it has been
ascertained that in such instances a blank space had been left for its
subsequent impression. The marks on the numeral cards were also printed
in the same manner, by means of impressions from separate plates.
In the collection of Thomas Wilson, Esq., there were twenty-nine of
those cards, together with fourteen drawings of other cards of the
same pack, and eleven animals on separate plates, forming the marks
of the suits.[258] Those cards were purchased of Mr. Wilson by Mr.
Tiffin, printseller, West Strand, who again sold them to the
Bibliothèque du Roi, where others of the same pack are also preserved.
Fac-similes of thirty-seven are given in the 'Jeux de Cartes Tarots
et de Cartes Numérales,' published by the Society of Bibliophiles
François. In the Table des Matières prefixed to that work, it is
indeed said that there are forty; but, on looking at their plate, No.
91, it will be perceived that the three coat cards there given do not
properly belong to the pack in question; for the mark on two of them
is a kind of flower something like a sweet-pea, and on the other it is
a rose.[259] Mons. Duchesne, who appears to have supplied the Précis
Historique prefixed to the work above named, should have distinctly
mentioned that the three coat cards in question were not of the same
pack or set, which has Human figures, Bears and Lions, Deer, and Birds,
as the marks of the suits. If they really did belong to the same pack,
it must then have consisted of at least six suits.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The annexed four cards, engraved on copper, are copied from specimens
given by Breitkopf, in his 'Enquiry into the Origin of Playing Cards;'
who there describes them as "German Piquet cards of the fifteenth
century with Trappola characters."[260] The complete pack appears to
have consisted of fifty-two cards; each of the four suits containing
a King, Queen, and Valet, or Knave, as we term the character; together
with ten numeral cards. The marks of the suits were Swords; Clubs
(proper, not Trèfles); Cups; and Pomegranates. The latter mark is
substituted for that of Money; and was perhaps intended by the artist
to commemorate the marriage of Philip the Fair, son of the Emperor
Maximilian, with Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, King and
Queen of Spain; who, on their subjugation of the kingdom of Grenada, in
1497, appear to have adopted the _Granada_, or Pomegranate, as one of
their badges.[261] The cards unquestionably belong to that period; and
in support of the speculation, it may be further observed that they are
generally ascribed to Israel van Mecken; who, as a native of Bocholt,
was a subject of Philip, who inherited the Netherlands, in right of his
mother, Mary of Burgundy.
Von Murr, in the second volume of his Journal, gives a description of a
nearly complete pack of those cards, which were then in the possession
of a gentleman named Silberrad, residing at Nuremberg, but which are
now in the British Museum.[262] He calls them old Trappola cards, and
says that they are certainly of an earlier date than the time of Israel
van Mecken the younger; or rather, that they were engraved by Israel
the elder. "The suits," he says, "are distinguished, after the Italian
manner, by SPADE; COPPE; DANARI (represented by Pomegranates); and
BASTONI."[263] The cards displayed in the preceding specimens
are: the Deuce of Swords; the Valet of Cups; the Ten of Pomegranates;
and the Ten of Clubs. In the latter, the Club seen on the banner is
rough and knotty, and not an artificially-formed Baton, as is sometimes
seen on old Italian cards: it has previously been observed that the
Bastoni were sometimes called Colonne, from their being something like
slender pillars.
[Illustration: Swords. (p. 227.)]
[Illustration: Cups. (p. 227.)]
[Illustration: Batons. (p. 227.)]
[Illustration: Money. (p. 227.)]
It would appear, from the testimony of contemporary authors, that
the cards most commonly used in Italy in the latter part of the
fifteenth century, were those which had SPADE, COPPE, BASTONI, and
DANARI--Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money,--as the marks of the suits.
These continued to be the common marks on Italian cards in the
sixteenth century, and even to a much later period; and such also would
appear to have been the marks of the cards used in Spain, from the
period of their first introduction into that country, to the present
day. The annexed woodcuts, copied from a plate in Breitkopf,[264] are
the Sevens of each of the four suits in a pack of Tarots. The marks are
precisely the same as in modern Tarots; and there is reason to believe
that they are nearly the same, with respect to form, as those of the
earliest Italian Tarocchi cards, properly so called.
The relation which the marks of the suits bear to each other in the
three varieties of cards most generally known in Europe, will perhaps
be best understood from the following summary, which shows, at one
view, the names given to the suits of each variety in the country where
such cards were chiefly used.
GERMAN CARDS.
_German Names of the Suits._
HERZEN, oder ROTH. GRÜN. EICHELN. SCHELLEN.
(HEARTS, or RED. GREEN (LEAVES). ACORNS. BELLS.)
SPANISH AND ITALIAN CARDS.
_Spanish Names._
COPAS. ESPADAS. BASTOS. OROS.
_Italian Names._
COPPE. SPADE. BASTONI. DANARI.
(CUPS. SWORDS. CLUBS, or BATONS. MONEY.)
FRENCH CARDS.
_French Names._
CŒUR. PIQUE. TRÈFLE. CARREAU.
(HEARTS. SPADES. CLUBS. DIAMONDS.)
In the oldest cards of the German and Spanish type there appears to
have been no Queen. In the German pack, the second coat card was a kind
of superior officer, distinguished as OBER,--Upper, Superior; while the
third, corresponding with our Knave, was named UNTER,--Inferior.[265]
The Spaniards called the second coat card CABALLO,--the Horseman
or Knight;--and the Knave they called SOTA, a word which, in the
Dictionary of the Spanish Academy, is said to be derived from the
Italian _soto_, signifying 'under.'[266] The Italians called their
second coat card CAVALLO, and the third FANTE; in each of the four
suits the principal coat card was the King. It would, however, appear
that at an early period, the Italians occasionally substituted a Queen
for the Cavallo; and if the cards formerly belonging to the Marquis
Girolamo be really of so early a date as is assigned to them by
Millin,[267] it would seem that the French have no just title to the
"honour" of being the first to introduce a Queen as the second coat
card, and that in having made "Place aux Dames," in the pack, they had
only followed the example set them by the Italians.
Millin's notice of those cards is to the following effect: "In the
collection of the Marquis Girolamo, at Venice, there are some cards
of very early date,--about the beginning of the fifteenth century.
They are larger than the ordinary cards of the present day; they are
also very thick; and the material of which they are formed resembles
the cotton paper of ancient manuscripts. The figures, which are
impressed--'imprimées'--on a gold ground, consist of three Kings, two
Queens, and two Valets, one of the last being on horseback. Each figure
has a Baton, a Sword, or a piece of Money [as the mark of the suit].
The design is very like that of Jacobello del Fiore; but the work
has the appearance of impression, and the colours seem to have been
applied by means of a stencil. They are the most ancient specimens of
their kind."[268]
As the names, Clubs and Spades, given to two of the suits in this
country, by no means correspond with the marks by which they are
distinguished,--to wit, the French _Trèfle_ and _Pique_--I am inclined
to consider them as the old names for the suits of Bastoni and Spade;
Clubs being merely a translation of Bastoni, and Spades probably a
corruption of Spade, or Espadas,--Swords.[269] From these names,
indeed, it may be fairly supposed that the cards first known in
England were those having Swords, Clubs, Cups, and Money, as the marks
of the suits; and that two of those suits retained their names when
the old cards of Spanish or Italian type were superseded by those of
more recent French design. There are also other circumstances which
strengthen the conclusion, that cards, on their first introduction
into England, as a popular game, were brought either from Spain or
Italy; the character of the third coat card, the Knave, or Jack, is
more in accordance with the Spanish Sota, or the Italian Fante, than
with the French Valet, which, in the earliest French cards, always
bears the name of some person of note, either in romance or history.
The term Valet, at the time when it was first bestowed on the third
coat card by the French, did not signify a "Gentleman's Gentleman" or a
menial servant; but was more especially applied to young noblemen--the
"Dilecti Regis"--holding appointments at court. The term Knave was
never applied, like Valet, to signify a courtier, or person of
distinction; it was used to signify a serving-man of low condition.
It seems to be derived from the same root as the German _Knabe_, the
primary meaning of which is a Boy, but which was also used, in the same
way as the Latin _Puer_, to signify a servant. Subsequently the term
Knave became obsolete in the sense of servant, and was exclusively
applied to designate a dishonest person. The term Jack, another name
for the Knave of cards, was in former times very frequently applied to
a "serving-man of low degree," without any regard to the name which
might have been given to him by his godfathers and godmothers.
Though Dr. Johnson, and most other English lexicographers, derive the
term Jackanapes from Jack and Ape, and though this derivation seems to
be supported by the meaning attached to the term by one of the earliest
writers who makes use of it, yet "Jack-a-Naipes," that is, Jack of
Cards, is at least as probable an etymology; and much more so than
that of "Jack Cnapa," suggested by Sharon Turner, in his 'History of
England,' from which the following passage is extracted.
"In the British Museum, Vesp. B, 16, is a ballad written at this time
on the catastrophes of the Duke of Suffolk and his friends. (Temp.
Henr. VI, May, 1450.) It treats these horrors with an exulting levity,
which shows the barbarous unfeelingness of political rancour; but it
is curious for giving the names of those friends of the government who
were most hated by the people. They are the clerical statesmen who were
employed either in the offices of government or on its embassies, and
it shows how much the dominant church had, by these employments, become
identified with the crown. It designates the Duke of Suffolk by the
cant term of 'Jac Napes,' and is perhaps the earliest instance we have
of the abusive application of the word Jackanapes. Our lexicographers
derive this word from Jack and Ape; but the ballad shows, that Napes
was a term of derision signifying a Knave; and must therefore be the
Saxon Cnapa, which bore also this meaning. This will explain the reason
why our third figured card is called Jack, and also Knave. The word
Jackanapes therefore seems to be Jack Cnapa, and to mean Jack the
Knave. In this sense it is applied to Suffolk; and as the Knave is next
in power at cards to the King and Queen, the nickname may be used in
the ballad with an allusion to Suffolk's being the prime minister of
Henry and Margaret."[270]
The following are two of the stanzas of the ballad in which the term
occurs:
"In the moneth of May, when grass grows grene,
Fragrant in her flowres with swete savour,
Jac Napes wold on the see, a maryner to ben,
With his clogi and his cheyn to seke more tresour.
"Swych a payn prikked him, he asked a confessour;
Nicholas said, I am redi the confessour to be;
He was holden so, that he ne passed that hour:
For Jac Napes saule, 'placebo et dirige.'"
Mr. Turner's remark, that "the ballad shows that Napes was a term of
derision, signifying a Knave, and must therefore be the Saxon Cnapa,"
does not appear to be well founded; for if it were derived from Cnapa,
and merely signified a Knave, or Cheat, it is difficult to conceive
why it should be written Napes, and not Knave, or Knape, as required,
according to Mr. Turner's etymology; besides, it is evident from the
context, that, in the mind of the writer, the idea of a Jac Napes was
associated with that of a monkey, or an ape, with his clog and his
chain. That this was not the primary signification of the term, may be
confidently asserted; and no writer who has derived it from Jack and
Ape, has produced any authority to show that it originally meant a man
who travelled about with apes or monkeys. In the following passage,
from a tract printed about 1540,[271] the term "_Yack an napes_"
evidently refers to a mummer or buffoon in a particoloured dress,
like that of a knave of cards. The writer, after having noticed the
assembling of the poor on holidays, at the "personis barne,"[272] and
there committing "ydolatre in mayntenynge his ambision, pride, and
bestly lyvinge," thus proceeds: "Nobyl statis were better to hunte
the bull, here, hert, or ony othere thynge lyke to suckure the powre
with the mette, then to here Sir Jhon Singyl Sowle stombel a payer
of mattens in laten, slynge holy water, curse holy brede, and to
play a caste lyke _yack an napes_ in a foles cotte." When John Bale,
in his work entitled, 'Yet a Course at the Romish Foxe,' speaks of
Jack-a-Naipes "swearing by his ten bones," it would seem that he in
some manner or other associated the term with the Jack-a-Naipes, or
Jack of Cards; for his ten bones can only be supposed to relate to the
numerical value of the Jack of Naipes, as a coat card. In Bale's time a
"card of ten" would appear to have been a general expression for a coat
card, as well as for a card distinguished by that number of pips.
Fyrste pycke a quarell, and fall out with hym then,
And soo outface hym with a carde of ten.
_Skelton's Bowghe of Court._
From the following passage in Pulci's 'Morgante Maggiore,' it would
seem that, in Italy, in the fifteenth century, the King of cards was
occasionally referred to as the type of a presumptuous person:
"E com' e' giunse, gridava il gigante;
Tu se' quì, Re di Naibi, o di Scacchi,
Col mio bataglio convien ch'io t'ammachi."
"And when the two together came, the giant shouted out,
And here you are, my King of Cards, or e'en of Chess, pardie!
My club then with your shoulders must without delay make free."
In Scotland, about 1508, the Knave of cards was the representative of a
forward impertinent person,--a very Jack-a-Naipes,--as is evident from
the "Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy," where the latter, among other bad
names, calls the former "Valet of cards":
"Waik walidrag, and verlot of the cairtis."[273]
Even in modern times the Knave of Hearts has been referred to as the
ideal of a presumptuous, thickset little man, as appears from the
following passage which occurs in the second edition of Brockett's
Glossary, 1829, under the word Purdy.
"PURDY, a little thickset fellow.--I owe this word," says Mr. Brockett,
"to the communication of a clerical friend in the county of Durham,
who first heard it at Barnard Castle. On ascertaining the meaning, the
following dialogue took place.
_Q._ What does _Purdy_ mean?
_A._ A little _throstan-up_ thing like a _Jack at Warts_. [Jack o'
'Arts,--Jack of Hearts.]
_Q._ What's that?
_A._ Something like a _lime-burner_.
_Q._ What is a lime-burner?
_A._ Oh, nobbut a _Kendal stockener_.
_Q._ What is that?
_A._ A little thickset fellow."
If cards were actually known in Italy and Spain in the latter part of
the fourteenth century, it is not unlikely that the game, as a common
amusement, was introduced into this country by some of the English
soldiers who had served under the banners of Hawkwood, and other Free
Captains, in the wars of Italy and Spain, about the period in question.
But, however this may be, it seems at least certain that the earliest
cards commonly used in this country, were of the same kind, with
respect to the marks of the suits, as those used in Italy and Spain.
The German cards of the fifteenth century, and even of a much later
period, display more of fanciful embellishment than the cards of other
countries; more especially in the numeral, or low cards; which, in
addition to the "pips," or marks of the suits, frequently contain
figures of men and women, quadrupeds, birds, foliage, and such like,
introduced by way of ornament, at the caprice of the designer. These
ornamental appendages are frequently of a grotesque character, and
sometimes indecent. The two annexed figures are the second coat cards
of the suits of Grün and Eicheln,--Leaves, and Acorns,--in a pack of
German cards engraved on wood, of the date 1511. The figures are drawn
with great freedom, and are much in the style of Lucas Cranach. On the
Two of Acorns are the letters F.C.Z.; the F and the C being probably
the initials of the designer, and the Z signifying that he made the
drawings,--_zeichnet_. On the Two of Leaves are two shields suspended
from a tree; the one displays two strait swords, in saltire; and the
other the arms of the house of Saxony, the same as are frequently seen
in wood engravings designed by Lucas Cranach. In a third shield at the
bottom of the same card, are a pic-kaxe and mallet, in saltire, the
same as in Dr. Stukeley's cards, and probably the mark of the card
maker. Thirty-six cards of this pack, which appears to have originally
consisted of fifty-two, are preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi; and
fac-similes of them are given in the 'Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de
Cartes Numérales,' published by the Society of Bibliophiles Français,
planches 92-95.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Specimens of a pack of cards designed by Erhard Schön, and engraved on
wood, are given by Singer in his Researches. In this pack, the marks
of the suits are Flowers, Pomegranates, Leaves, and Roses.[274] These
cards are very inferior, both in design and execution, to those just
described, of the date 1511. Erhard Schön flourished about 1530. About
1550, Virgil Solis engraved a pack of cards on copper, with Lions,
Apes, Peacocks, and Parrots as the marks of the suits: they are noticed
by Bartsch, in his 'Peintre-Graveur'; and six of the pack were recently
in the possession of Messrs. Smith, of Lisle street.
The best of all the fanciful cards that appeared in Germany during
the sixteenth century, are those engraved on wood from the designs
of Jost Amman. They were published at Nuremberg in 1588, in a quarto
volume, with illustrative verses, in Latin and German, composed by
J. H. Schroter, the imperial poet-laureate.[275] From the following
verses,--'Liber de Seipso,'--it would seem that those cards were not
designed for the purposes of play:
"CHARTA mihi titulum tribuit LUSORIA; lusus
Et chartæ in pretio munera vulgus habet.
Sed nec ego laudes moror aut convicia vulgi;
Sit mihi sat claris posse placere viris.
"Hos rogo, ut a rerum quondam graviore vacantes
Cura, si chartis ludere forte velint,
Colludent nostris: sine rixis, vulnere, morte,
Ludenti quoniam lucra benigna dabunt."
In this set of cards, the marks of the suits are Books; Printers'
inking balls; Wine-cups, of metal "formed by the skill of the
goldsmith;" and Goblets, with bosses of glass or earthenware. Correct
and beautifully executed specimens of those cards are given in Singer's
'Researches,' pp. 180-96.
[Illustration: Bells. (p. 239.)]
[Illustration: Hearts. (p. 239.)]
[Illustration: Leaves. (p. 239.)]
[Illustration: Acorns. (p. 239.)]
The four annexed German cards, are the Sevens of the four suits:
_Schellen_; _Herzen, oder Roth_; _Grün_; _Eicheln_,--Bells; Hearts, or
Red; Green, or Leaves; and Acorns. They are copied from Breitkopf, and
are of the seventeenth century. The four small ones given below are
of the same period, and were probably intended for the amusement of
children,--like the "pretty little cards for pretty little fingers,"
manufactured at the present day. The subjects are, the second Coat card
and the Three of Leaves; the Four of Acorns; and the Six of Hearts.
[Illustration]
As small bells were worn as ornaments by the emperors of Germany
and the higher classes in the 12th and 13th centuries, Breitkopf is
inclined to think that bells might have been introduced on cards as
a distinctive mark of the class of kings and nobles; and that cards
might even have been known in Germany at the period referred to.
In corroboration of his opinion, he gives a plate, entitled "_Alte
Deutsche Furst Schellen-tracht_,"--that is to say, Ancient German
Princely Bell-costume,--containing four figures, all adorned with small
bells. The first figure is that of the Princess Wulphilde, who was
living in 1138; the second and third represent the Emperor Henry VI,
who died in 1197; and the fourth is that of the Emperor Otho IV, who
died in 1218.[276]--Breitkopf's conjecture is undeserving of remark:
had he asserted that his old German emperors and princes were adorned
with bells to indicate their rank and precedence, in the manner of
leading packhorses, he would perhaps have been as near the truth.
The tinkle of the bell rouses the questing spirit of Mons. Leber, who
pursues the inquiry with singular ardour and perseverance, though not
with success. His researches, however, on the subject of bells, though
throwing not a glimmer of light on the history of cards, are yet so
amusing, that they are here given entire, notes and all. They also
furnish an additional proof of the wide field afforded for speculation
by the history of cards.
"After the _Fou_ of European Tarots, the Bells on Indian cards are
another proof of the Oriental origin of the game. The use of bells in
India, whether as a mark of distinction and greatness, or as a means
of diversion, is of remote antiquity; while everything shows that they
were not known to the ancient nations of Europe. The Baladins and
female dancers of India have their legs decked with small bells, which
they shake when dancing; and certain idols are decorated with the same
ornament; girdles formed of bells are also worn by infants, without any
other clothing; and sometimes a single bell supplies the place of the
girdle. Herbert relates that 'as this bell contains a viper's tongue,
it might be supposed to be annoying and disgraceful. It is, however,
neither the one nor the other, for it is made an ornament, and it is
esteemed one of their most superb, when given by the king to a person
whom he wishes to honour.'[277]--We have already said that the use of
bells for various purposes is of great antiquity; and a proof of this
is furnished by the Pentateuch.[278] Bells appear to have passed from
the Hebrews to the Arabs, and to have been with these two nations the
same as we see them to have been in India, a sign of distinction and
power, when not prostituted to the use of the Baladins. An English
author, who has not been unmindful of the remarks of Calmet,[279]
mentions, in the following terms, a kind of devotion paid to the bell
among the Arabians: 'The Arabian courtesans, like the Indian women,
have little _golden bells_ fastened round their legs, neck, and
elbows, to the sound of which they dance before the king.--The Arabian
princesses wear golden rings on their fingers, to which _little bells_
are suspended, as in the flowing tresses of their hair, that their
superior rank may be known, and they themselves receive in passing the
homage due to them.'[280]--Such are bells in the East: let us now see
what they have been in Europe at different periods.
"The Emperor Henry IV, who died in 1197, and Wulphilde, the wife of
Count Rodolph, living in 1138, are represented in ancient monuments
in habits ornamented with bells similar to those which are seen on
Tarots. It would seem that this singular ornament, which subsequently
became the attribute of the buffoon, or professional jester, was then a
mark of dignity in the West as well as in the East, and that it held a
conspicuous place amongst the distinctive ornaments of the princes and
nobles of Germany, from the eleventh to the thirteenth century.[281]
Some English critics, however, have supposed that the bell indicated
falconry,[282] a sport which the high nobility only had the privilege
of indulging in; and it is certain that small bells were attached to
the feet of trained falcons.[283] But the question is, did the bells
stand for the falcon, and was the falcon, indeed, a mark of high
nobility?
"What renders this conjecture probable is, that we find the use of the
small bell [grelot] established in the West before the introduction
of heraldic signs, and that we have no evidence of its having been
known to the ancient Greeks and Romans.[284] As the bell was used in
falconry by princes and nobles of the first class, it might thus become
the emblem of the falcon, and, subsequently, that of the nobility to
whom it was confined. The falcon, and things pertaining to falconry,
were certainly among the marks of grandeur with which the sovereigns
and barons of the middle ages loved to surround themselves in their
formal displays, and which alone were sufficient, in the same manner
as armorial bearings, to indicate the rank of the persons to whom
they belonged. In the tapestry ascribed to Queen Matilda, Harold is
seen travelling with his falcon on his fist; and the Count Guy de
Ponthieu, who conducts him prisoner to Beaurain, carries also his
bird in the same manner, although he, doubtless, had no thought of
the chase.[285] Besides, sceptres are surmounted with three-branched
_fleurons_, like those which form the ornament on the top of a falcon's
hood.[286] We also see hawks and falcons on ancient tombs; and it
is not unlikely that they were there placed as indications of rank
before the introduction of armorial bearings. The same conventional
distinctions were still in existence in much more recent times; for
Anne de Montmorency made his entry into London as ambassador of Francis
I, preceded by twenty-six gentlemen of the best houses of France, each
bearing a falcon on his fist;[287] and even our kings themselves, on
occasions of grand display, were preceded by their falconers fully
equipped. Falconry was not known to the ancients; but it is certain
that it was in use among the nations of the North before the conquest
of the Gauls by the Franks. Sidonius Apollinaris commemorates the
skill of a person named Vectius in the art of training dogs, horses,
and birds of prey: "In equis, canibus, _accipitribus_ instituendis,
spectandis, circumferendis, nulli secundus."[288]
"The question, however, would still be, 'if bells were used in
falconry at so early a period?' and it may be presumed that they were
not so used until long afterwards. German princes, as referred to by
Breitkopf, are decorated with them as marks of high birth, on monuments
from the eleventh to the thirteenth century. Now, it was just towards
the close of the eleventh century, that the intercourse between
Europeans and Orientals became more extended by means of the crusades;
and the invention of heraldry is of the same period. Armorial bearings,
which originated in over-sea expeditions and in tournaments, are not
of higher antiquity than the eleventh century; their use became more
frequent in the twelfth; and, in the thirteenth, we find them generally
established.[289] From the concurrence of these circumstances, it may
be concluded that bells of this kind were brought into Europe from the
East, towards the end of the eleventh century; and, that on their first
introduction, the German nobility adopted them as marks of distinction,
either from the idea of grandeur attached to them by the people from
whom they had them, or on account of the noble bird to whose use they
had dedicated them; and that this mark of nobility fell into disuse
when heraldry could supply its place by signs better adapted to
gratify the pride of the great, on account of their indicating, at the
same time, both rank and personal distinction. The Bayeux tapestry,
already referred to as the work of Queen Matilda, seems to confirm
this opinion. The conquest of England by William Duke of Normandy was
achieved in 1066; and the tapestry representing it is supposed to
be of the same century: and of this there could be no doubt, if it
were true that the work was executed by the wife of William, and her
attendants.[290] It may thus have been worked about twenty or thirty
years before the first crusade, which was determined on at the council
of Clermont, held by Urban II, in 1095. Now, the birds of chase which
some of the persons in this tapestry carry on their fist, have no bells
at their feet. We perceive there only the _jesses_, or leathern strings
with tassels at the ends, which serve to retain the bird.[291] These
jesses, without any appearance of bells, are easily to be distinguished
in the compartment which contains the inscription, DUX WILLELM: CUM
HARALDO: VENIT: AD PALATIN. If this be not evidence that bells of this
kind were not then common in Europe, it is at least a proof that they
were not then used in falconry, although this sport had been practised
for several centuries."[292]