Mons. Leber calls both Spanish and German cards Tarots, even though

they may contain no Atous; which yet appear to have been the very

pieces which were more especially distinguished as Tarocchi or

Tarots; and from the use of which, in combination with other cards,

a particular kind of game was called Tarocchino, or Tarocchio.

Thus, in consequence of his not sufficiently distinguishing between

Spanish and German cards, he speaks of the marks which occur on them

indiscriminately; and explains SWORDS and MONEY as if they belonged to

the same pack which has one of its suits distinguished by Bells. His

account of the marks on the French cards is to the following effect.

"The _Cœur_ explains itself; it is a symbol of the most noble and

generous sentiments, and more especially indicates courage, valour, and

intrepidity, qualities the most brilliant in princes. The _Trèfle_ has

its name from its resemblance to the plant so-called; though properly

it is a Flower, or rather a _Fleuron_ with three branches, symbolical

of the mysterious number Three, which, in ancient times, was regarded

with religious veneration. This number being the first which contained

in itself the principal characteristics of numbers,--namely, Unity

and Plurality, Odd and Even,--became the symbol of a union of the

most excellent virtues, such as Power, Wisdom, Love; and, by analogy,

Sovereignty, Wisdom, Justice. It is this three-branched Fleuron which

appears on the monuments of the French kings of the first and second

race; but, in consequence of its being badly designed and worse

understood, it became confounded with the heraldic Fleur-de-Lis, and is

in fact now displaced by it. The _Carreau_ seems to have been better

understood by the French than their neighbours, with whom this figure

is a jewel, a precious stone, an ornamental article. The English take

it for a diamond, and the Spaniards, for a jewel worn by ladies, or for

the decoration of the toilet. Their error has doubtless arisen from

the comparison which they made between the _Carreaux_ of cards and the

figures of precious stones which they had before their eyes.[293] The

diamonds and precious stones forming the ornaments of royal vestments,

and of dresses of court ladies, have usually the form of carreaux,

and are painted in vermilion, or in carmine in the manuscripts of the

middle age; and this conventional form, having been adopted by heralds,

was introduced into armorial bearings as the _macle_ and _lozenge_.

The Carreaux of cards, however, have no connexion with diamonds and

precious stones, any more than they have with the _quarrells_ or

square-headed arrows of a crossbow. The Carreau, as well as each

of the other marks of the suits, is a symbol, and not a rebus. All

iconographers represent Fortune as standing, upon one foot, on a

wheel or a ball, to signify her instability. The contrary idea was

necessarily attached to the figure of a square or a cube, considered as

a firm and immoveable base. It was for this reason that the ancients

placed the figure of Wisdom and Firmness on a cube; and Aristotle

speaks in the same sense when he informs us that a true philosopher

ought to be square,--carré--that is to say, immoveable in courage and

virtue. Heraldry has also admitted the square, placed lozenge-wise,

as an emblem of Constancy and Firmness; and the Squares of cards,

called Carreaux, can only be supposed to have the same signification.

As to the _Pique_, there can be no doubt with respect to its meaning.

It represents the head of a lance, and is thus an emblem of military

force. The Germans, however, seem to have misconceived the character

of this figure, which they converted into a Leaf,--_Grün_;[294]--but

this mistake, or rather this difference, may be ascribed to the

imperfection of the painting in ancient cards; and more especially to

the coarseness of the first essays of wood-engraving, in which it was

almost impossible to distinguish the figure of a leaf from that of a

pike-head. On comparing the earliest German cards with shields of arms,

of the same period, and with old wood-engravings which contain trees,

it will be immediately seen how easy it was to confound the two forms.

There is no difference between the Piques of cards and the leaves of

the tree on the right of the woodcut of St. Christopher of the date

1423; and the _Crequier_[295] of heraldry is precisely the same as

the seven of Pique[296] in German cards of the fifteenth century. But

whatever may have been the cause of this anomaly, it is generally

admitted that the Pique in French cards is the figure of a weapon; and

it can scarcely be doubted that it was the equivalent of the Sword in

the Tarots. In this respect the Spanish and Italian nomenclature is in

perfect accordance with our own. In the southern parts of Europe the

French _Pique_ is _La Picca_ or _La Spada_."

Thus, according to Mons. Leber, the four suits of French cards have

the following signification: CŒUR, valour, greatness of soul; TRÈFLE,

wisdom and justice united with power; CARREAU, firmness, stability,

constancy; PIQUE, physical force, or the power of the military. The

suits, again, may be considered as representing four monarchies,

or political societies; namely, CŒURS, governed by a generous and

courageous prince; TRÈFLES, by a sovereign just, wise, and powerful;

CARREAUX, by a king consistent in principle, and decided in action; and

PIQUES, by a warlike prince, who owes his power to his arms.

Though Mons. Leber has freely censured Daniel for writing on the

subject of cards chiefly from books, without referring to cards

themselves, he is yet exceedingly prone to follow Daniel's example;

and though his explanation of the symbolical meaning of cards be less

extravagant than the latter's account of the origin and signification

of the game of Piquet, it can scarcely be called more reasonable; since

both writers interpret the marks on the cards according to their own

conceit. The one informs us that the Trèfle signifies that a general

ought only to encamp in a place which affords plenty of fodder for his

cavalry; and the other says that the Carreau, which, as it stands, in

the cards, seems the very emblem of instability, signifies firmness,

stability, constancy; an interpretation which seems to rest chiefly on

the ingenious hypothesis of the Carreau being an emblem of the cube.

The variations which occur on cards from the commencement of the

sixteenth century, either as regards the marks of the suits or the

names of the coat cards, throw no light on their origin; as such

variations have evidently been introduced merely at the caprice of the

card-maker in accordance with the prevalent taste of the period. In a

pack of French cards, engraved by Vincent Goyraud, in the time of Henry

IV, all the coat cards appear in the costume of the period; though the

Kings and Valets still display in their dress that variety of colour

which is to be seen on cards of an earlier period, but which, at that

time, appears to have been out of fashion. Such cards would appear

to have been in common use in England in the early part of the reign

of James I. In Rowland's 'Knave of Hearts,' first printed in 1612,

the Knave, in his supplication to the card-makers, complains of the

pie-bald suits which he and his fellows are compelled to wear.[297] In

the pack referred to the names and designations of the Coat cards are

as follows:

Suits. CŒUR. CARREAU. TRÈFLE.

Kings. _Salomon._ _Auguste._ _Clovis._

Queens. _Elizabeth._ _Dido._ _Clotilde._

Valets. _Valet de Court._ _Valet de Chasse._ _Valet d'Eté._

Suits. PIQUE.

Kings. _Constantine._

Queens. _Pantalisee._

Valets. _Valet de Noblesse._

The Valet de Court has his hat under his arm; the Valet de Chasse holds

a dog in a leash; the Valet d'Eté carries a large flower; and the

Valet de Noblesse bears a hawk on his fist. The mark of the card-maker

appears on two of the Valets, namely, on the Valet of Cœur, and on the

Valet of Pique. A pack of those cards is preserved in the Bibliothèque

du Roi; and fac-similes of the Kings, Queens, and Valets, in their

proper colours, are given in the 'Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes

Numérales,' published by the Society of Bibliophiles Français. From

those fac-similes the outlines of the four Valets here given have been

copied.

[Illustration: Valet de Cour. (p. 250.)]

[Illustration: Valet de Chasse. (p. 250.)]

[Illustration: Valet de Été. (p. 250.)]

[Illustration: Valet de Noblesse. (p. 250.)]

In the same work are given fac-similes of coat cards executed in

the reign of Louis XIII, and displaying the costume of that period.

The names given to the Kings, Queens and Valets on those cards are:

_Cœur_, Alexandre, Pentasilee [Penthesilea], Roland. _Carreau_, Cirus

Major, Roxane, Renault. _Trèfle_, Ninus, Semiramis; the name of the

Valet wanting.[298] _Pique_, Jule Cæsar, Pompeia, Roger. Each of the

Aces is surrounded with an ornamental bordering; and at the foot is an

inscription, which, when read consecutively, through all the four, is

as follows: "_Vive le Roy_ | _Vive la Reyne_ | _J'ayme l'Amour_ | _Et

la Court_."

Some of the specimens of Portuguese cards given in the 'Jeux de

Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numérales' have very much the appearance of

having been originally suggested by, if not copied from, an Oriental

type; more especially in the suits of Danari and Bastoni,--Money

and Clubs. In those cards the circular figure, generally understood

as representing Danari, or Money, is certainly much more like the

_Chakra_, or quoit of Vichnou, as seen in Hindostanee drawings, than a

piece of coin; while on the top of the Club there is a diamond proper,

which is another of the attributes of the same deity. The dragon seen

on each of the Aces is perfectly Oriental in character; and the shields

which appear on the Kings and Queens are very much like those which are

to be seen in Hindostanee drawings. The coat cards in this pack are

King, Queen, and Horseman; and the suits are Coppe, Danari, Bastoni,

and Spade--Cups, Money, Clubs proper, and Swords. The Queen, which here

appears as the second coat card, is of unusual occurrence in cards of

this kind, and more especially in such as are of Spanish or Portuguese

manufacture.[299] In two of the suits,--Clubs and Swords,--the Queen

appears in the act of encountering a dragon. The coat cards and aces

have letters both at top and bottom, indicating the suit, and the rank

or name of the card. Specimens of those cards, which appear to have

been executed in 1693, are preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi. The

four annexed cuts show the outlines of the four Valets. The letters CC,

CD, CB, CS, signify respectively the Caballo, or Chevalier of Coppe,

Danari, Bastoni, and Spade.

[Illustration]

The most remarkable changes that cards have undergone, with respect

to the characters displayed on them, are to be found in certain packs

manufactured at Paris in the time of the Revolution. Specimens of the

coat cards of two of those packs engraved by Chossonnerie and Gayant,

in 1793-4, are given in the 'Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes

Numérales.' In one of them the places of the Kings are occupied by

four Philosophers, namely, Molière, La Fontaine, Voltaire, and J. J.

Rousseau; the Queens are substituted by the four Virtues, Prudence,

Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude; while the Valets are superseded by

four Republicans, one of whom is a grim-looking ruffian, with a red cap

on, and his shirt-sleeves turned up, brandishing a pike; the second

is a soldier armed with a musket; the third an artilleryman; and the

fourth a young man, in fancy costume, armed with a musket. In the other

pack, four Sages, Solon, M. P. Cato, J. J. Rousseau, and J. J. Brutus,

serve instead of Kings; four Virtues, as in the other pack, represent

the Queens; though with this difference, that Temperance is displaced

by Union; while four "Braves,"--Annibal, Horatius, P. Decius Mus, and

M. Scævola, supply the place of Valets.

Another pack of Republican cards of the same period is thus described

by Peignot, in his 'Analyse de Recherches sur les Cartes à jouer.'

"For Kings we have _Genii_; for Queens, _Liberties_; and for Valets,

_Equalities_. In place of the King of Hearts there is the Genius of

War,--'GÉNIE DE LA GUERRE.' This Genius, which is winged, is seated on

the breech of a cannon; he holds in the right hand a sword and a wreath

of laurel, and in the left, a shield, round which is the inscription,

'_Pour la République Française_.' On the right, read vertically from

the top, is the word '_Force_.' At the feet of the Genius are a bomb,

a lighted match, and a heap of bullets. At the bottom of the card is

the inscription, '_Par brevet d'invention. Naume et Dugouec, au Génie

de la Rép. franç._'

"For the Queen of Hearts: 'LIBERTÉ DES CULTES,'--Religious Liberty.

This is a female seated, very badly draped, and with her legs bare.

She holds a pike surmounted with a red cap; and on a bannerol attached

to the pike are the words '_Dieu seul_.' Towards her feet are seen

three volumes, inscribed '_Thalmud_,' '_Coran_,' and '_Evangile_.' The

vertical inscription is, '_Fraternité_.'

"Knave of Hearts: 'ÉGALITÉ DES DEVOIRS,'--Equality of Duties. This is

a soldier seated on a drum, with his musket between his knees. In his

left hand he holds a paper containing the words, '_Pour la patrie_.'

The vertical inscription is '_Sécurité_.'

"King of Spades: 'GÉNIE DES ARTS,'--the Genius of Arts. The figure of

Apollo with a red cap on his head; in one hand he holds the Belvedere

statue of himself, and in the other a lyre. The vertical inscription:

'_Goût_.' At the bottom, emblems of painting, sculpture, and such like.

"Queen of Spades: 'LIBERTÉ DE LA PRESSE,'--Liberty of the Press. A

female figure with a pen in one hand, and with the other sustaining a

desk, on which lies a roll of paper partly unfolded, and displaying the

words '_Morale_, _Religion_, _Philosophie_, _Physique_, _Politique_,

_Histoire_.' At the bottom, masks, rolls of manuscript, and such like.

"Knave of Spades: 'EGALITÉ DE RANGS,'--Equality of Ranks. The figure

of a man whose costume accords rather with that of a '_Septembriseur_'

than with that of a mere '_Sans-culotte_' of the period. He wears

sabots, and has a red cap on his head. He has no coat on, and his

shirt-sleeves are tucked up to the elbows. His small-clothes are loose

at the knees, and his legs are bare. He is seated on a large stone, on

which is inscribed: '_Démolition de la Bastille_. _10 Août, 1792_.'

Under his feet is a scroll inscribed '_Noblesse_,' and displaying

shields of arms. The vertical inscription is '_Puissance_.'

"King of Clubs: 'GÉNIE DE LA PAIX,'--Genius of Peace. In his right

hand he holds the '_Fasces_' and an olive branch, and in the left

a scroll containing the word '_Lois_.' The vertical inscription is

'_Prospérité_.'

"Queen of Clubs: 'LIBERTÉ DU MARIAGE,'--Liberty of Marriage. The figure

of a female holding a pike surmounted with the red cap; and on a scroll

attached to the pike is the word '_Divorce_.' The vertical inscription

is '_Pudeur_.' On a pedestal is a statue of the crouching Venus

entirely naked,--without doubt intended for the emblem of Modesty.

"Knave of Clubs: 'EGALITÉ DE DROITS,'--Equality of Rights. A judge in

tricolor costume, holding in one hand a pair of scales, and in the

other a scroll containing the inscription '_La loi pour tous_.' He is

trampling on a serpent or dragon, the tortuous folds of which represent

legal chicanery. The vertical inscription is '_Justice_.'

"King of Diamonds: 'GÉNIE DU COMMERCE,'--the Genius of Commerce. He is

seated on a large bale, which contains the inscription '_P. B. d'inv.

J. D. à Paris_.' In one hand he holds a purse, and in the other a

caduceus and an olive-branch. The vertical inscription is '_Richesse_.'

At the bottom are an anchor, the prow of a ship, a portfolio, and such

like.

"Queen of Diamonds: 'LIBERTÉ DES PROFESSIONS,'--Liberty of Professions

and Trades. A female figure who, in the same manner as the other

three Liberties, holds a pike surmounted with the red cap. With the

other hand she holds a cornucopiæ and a scroll containing the word

'_Patentes_.' The vertical inscription is '_Industrie_.'

"Knave of Diamonds: 'EGALITÉ DE COULEURS,'--Equality of Colours. The

figure of a Negro, seated, and leaning upon a musket. Below is the

word '_Café_.' Near to him are a sugar-loaf, a broken yoke, fetters,

iron collars for the neck, and such like. The vertical inscription is

'_Courage_.'

"Such are the coat cards of this Republican pack. The numeral cards are

the same as the old ones, with the exception of the Aces, which are

surrounded by four fasces placed lozenge-wise, with these words: '_La

Loi. Rép. Franç._;' the whole coloured blue. It is scarcely necessary

to say that those ridiculous cards had not even a momentary vogue."[300]

The coat cards of a Republican pack, of recent American manufacture,

have been forwarded to me by a friend, resident at New York. From the

name of the maker,--R. SAUZADE,--which occurs on the Ace of Spades,

I am inclined to think that their invention is to be ascribed rather

to a Frenchman than to an American. For the Kings we have: _Hearts_,

WASHINGTON; _Diamonds_, JOHN ADAMS, the second President of the United

States; _Clubs_, FRANKLIN; _Spades_, LA FAYETTE. For the Queens:

_Hearts_, VENUS,--modestly concealing her charms with a mantle, in

accordance with American notions of delicacy. _Diamonds_, FORTUNE;

_Clubs_, CERES; _Spades_, MINERVA. The Knaves are represented by Four

Indian chiefs. The figures appear to be engraved on copper, and are

coloured. The marks of the suits are the same as those on the cards

in common use in England. Those cards, I am informed, are held in no

estimation by the card-players of America, who continue to prefer those

of the old pattern.--The chief town in America for the manufacture

of cards is Boston; whose discreet, meeting-going people seem to

have no objection to make a profit by supplying the profane with the

instruments of perdition.

No cards of an "instructive" character have ever obtained popularity

amongst regular card-players; for when people sit down to play at

cards they do not like to have their attention withdrawn from the game

by the historical or biographical reminiscences suggested by Coat

cards, either containing portraits of distinguished characters, or

commemorating remarkable events; and least of all can they bear that

the heads of a sermon or moral lecture should be presented to them in

the shape of the four cardinal virtues; which are just as appropriate

in a pack of cards as they would be on the proscenium of her Majesty's

Theatre.

The best of the costume cards that I have seen are those designed by

Armand Houbigant, a French artist, who named them "Cartes Royales," and

obtained from Louis XVIII, a license to manufacture them for general

use, in 1818. They did not, however, acquire any vogue, and are now

seldom to be met with, except in the collections of amateurs of prints.

The coat cards, which are etched, and delicately coloured by hand,

display the costume of the French Court at four different periods. The

characters represented are as follows.

_Spades._ King, CHARLEMAGNE, "Carolus Magnus;" crowned, and seated on

a throne, with a globe in the right hand, and a long sceptre in the

left.--Queen, HILDEGARDE, second wife of Charlemagne; erect, crowned,

and holding a book in her hands.--Knave, ROLAND, described in romances

as the nephew of Charlemagne; and said to have been killed at the

battle of Roncevalles in 778; holding a spear and shield, and clothed

in armour, which appears rather to belong to the sixteenth century than

to the time of Charlemagne.

_Diamonds._ King, Louis IX, "Sainct Loys;" crowned, seated on a throne,

wearing a blue robe powdered with fleurs-de-lis, and having a sceptre

in his left hand.--Queen, BLANCHE DE CASTILLE, wife of Louis VIII, and

mother of St. Louis; erect, crowned, and holding a rosary in her right

hand.--Knave, SIRE DE JOINVILLE, the biographer of Louis IX, and one of

the nobles of his court; clothed in chain-mail, over which is a surcoat

of arms.

_Clubs._ King, FRANCIS I; seated, wearing the broad bonnet in which he

is usually represented, and holding a sceptre.--Queen, MARGUERITE DE

VALOIS, Queen of Navarre, sister of Francis I; erect, holding a rose in

her right hand.--Knave, BAYARD; in plate-armour, leaning on a kind of

pedestal on which is inscribed "_Sans peur, sans reproche_."

_Hearts._ King, HENRY IV; seated, holding a sceptre, and wearing the

characteristic hat and feather which, in modern times, are designated

by his name.--Queen, JEANNE D'ALBRET, mother of Henry IV; erect,

holding a fan in her right hand.--Knave, SULLY; bald and bearded, as he

is usually represented in engravings, holding in his right hand a paper

inscribed "_Economie Roy_.[301] ..."

A set of Picture Cards, published by Cotta, the bookseller of Tubingen,

in one of his Card Almanacs--'Karten Almanach'--is noticed by Mons.

Peignot. The designer has chosen for the coat cards the principal

characters in Schiller's Joan of Arc, and has clothed them, as well as

he could, in the costume of the period. The King of Hearts is CHARLES

VII; the Queen, ISABELLA OF BAVARIA; the Knave, LA HIRE.--The King of

Clubs is the English commander, TALBOT, dying; the Queen, JOAN OF ARC;

the Knave, LIONEL, taking away the sword of JOAN OF ARC.--The King

of Diamonds is PHILIP, DUKE OF BURGUNDY; the Queen, AGNES SOREL; the

Knave, RAIMOND, a villager.--The King of Clubs is RÉNÉ OF ANJOU, with

the crown of Sicily at his feet; the Queen, LOUISE, sister of Joan of

Arc; and the Knave, MONTGOMERY, on his knees, and weeping. The low

cards from 1 to 10 also contain fanciful designs; but with the subjects

so arranged that the numbers and marks of the suits can be readily

distinguished. The subject of the Four of Clubs is an illustration of

Burger's ballad of Leonore--Death armed, and mounted on horseback,

appears to be threatening with his dart a young woman who rides behind

him; the scene is laid in a churchyard, and a skeleton appears crawling

towards an open grave. The mark of the suit is seen on four crosses

in the churchyard. Cotta's Card Almanack first appeared in 1806, and

was continued for several years. It was published as a small pocket

volume of a square form; and the illustrations consisted entirely of

fanciful cards,--the mark of the suit being always introduced into each

subject, either by hook or by crook. The designs for the cards in

the first four volumes, from 1806 to 1809 inclusive, are said to have

been made by a lady.--Numerous packs of fancy cards have appeared in

Germany since the commencement of the present century; some displaying

costume, ancient and modern; some representing eminent characters, and

others devoted to the illustration of trades and professions. In one of

them, published at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, in 1815, in memory of the

principal military events of 1813-14, the Duke of Wellington figures as

the Knave of Diamonds, and Marshal Blucher as the Knave of Clubs.

In 1811 two different packs of caricature cards, imitated, or rather

adapted, from the picture-cards in Cotta's Almanack, appeared in

England. The one was published by S. and J. Fuller, Rathbone place,

London; and the other, by Jones, at the Repository of Arts, Market

hill, Cambridge. Neither of those packs was intended for the purposes

of play. They have very much the appearance of having been designed by

the same artist. On the wrapper of both packs the inscription is the

same: "METASTASIS. Transformation of Playing-cards."--A set of costume

cards was published by Ackermann, in the 'Repository of Arts,' in 1806:

a particular description of them would be just as interesting as a

description of the plates in 'La Belle Assemblée' of the same period.

A pack of cards published by Baker and Co., in 1813, requires more

particular notice. On the wrapper they are entitled "Eclectic Cards;"

and in a pamphlet giving an account of them, they are announced as

"Complete, Grand, Historical, Eclectic Cards, for England, Ireland,

Scotland, and Wales; being a Selection or an Eclectic Company of Twelve

of the most eminent Personages, that ever distinguished themselves in

those respective Countries, for Heroic deeds, Wisdom, &c. And the

other Forty Cards descriptive of the Local and National Emblems of the

Four Nations.

"Historian, Poet, Painter, all combine,

To charm the eye, the taste and mind refine;

Fancy and sentiment their aid impart,

To raise the genius, and to mend the heart."

[Illustration]

These cards, which are considerably larger than those in common

use, display considerable skill and fancy in the designs, and are

beautifully coloured. Hearts and Diamonds are retained as marks of two

of the suits; but Acorns are substituted for Clubs; and instead of

Spades there is a "true representation of the real Spata, which is not

a coal-heaver's spade, but a two-edged heavy sword, without a point, as

used by the ancient Britons to fight with; cut, hew, and slash down,

either enemy or tree. So says our ancient history." A fac-simile of

this formidable weapon is here subjoined, in order that the reader

may judge for himself of its peculiar fitness for cutting, hewing, or

slashing down. It has very much the appearance of a heavy cast-metal

article, new from the Carron foundry, and of modern Gothic design. In

the descriptive pamphlet, the coat cards are thus explained:

"FOR ENGLAND.

_King of Clubs._--Arthur, the Great and Victorious Hero, King of

Britain.

_Queen of Clubs._--Elizabeth, the Wise and Virtuous Queen of England.

_Knight of Clubs._--Sir John Falstaff, the Facetious Knight, and

companion of Henry V, Knight of England.

FOR IRELAND.

_King of Hearts._--Gathelus, the Grecian Prince, King of Ireland.

_Queen of Hearts._--Scotia, his Wife, the Egyptian Princess, Queen of

Ireland.

_Knight of Hearts._--Ossian, the Warrior and Poet, Son of Fingal,

Knight of Ireland.

FOR SCOTLAND.

_King of Diamonds._--Achaius, the fortunate Contemporary, and in

alliance with Charlemagne, King of Scots.

_Queen of Diamonds._--Mary Stuart, the unfortunate Dowager Queen of

France, and Queen of Scots.

_Knight of Diamonds._--Merlin, the Magic Prophet, Cabinet Counsellor

to Vortigern, Aurelius Ambrosius, Uter Pendragon, the Father of King

Arthur, and to King Arthur, who was his Pupil, Knight of Scotland.

FOR WALES.

_King of Spata._--Camber, the third Son of Brute, King of Cambria.

_Queen of Spata._--Elfrida, the beautiful Queen of Mona, and of the

Mountains.

_Knight of Spata._--Thaliessin, the Welch Bard and Poet, dressed like a

Herald or King at Arms of the Divine and Ancient Druids, as he sang to

King Henry II of the great deeds of Arthur, the justly termed hero of

the British Isle, Knight of Cambria."

"In the selection which we have made," say the proprietors, "to form

our set of court cards, we have chosen them from among those characters

who have rendered themselves most conspicuous in the history of the

United Kingdom. In this particular, we have had recourse not only to

historical truth, which we have rigidly observed, but we have taken

care to fix upon personages, who lived at different periods, and

which are calculated in colour, variety of dress, and characteristic

features, to form an agreeable and elegant contrast, and to avoid

that unpleasant monotony which must have taken place if they had all

been selected from the same period of time; and it will be a peculiar

gratification to us, in our attempts to form a set of cards, should we

contribute in the smallest degree, to augment the elegant and rational

amusements of taste and fashion.

"Nor have we been inattentive to minor objects in our anxiety to

complete the plan. We believe it has never been attempted to be

explained why the coarse and vulgar appellation of knave, was

originally given to the card next in degree to the queen. Perhaps the

following demonstration is the most plausible way in which it can be

accounted for. It was usual with kings in ancient times to choose

some ludicrous person, with whose ridiculous and comical tricks they

might be diverted in their hours of relaxation, from the cares and

formalities of royalty. This person was generally chosen from among

men of low condition, but not wholly destitute of talent, particularly

in that species of low cunning and humour calculated to excite mirth

and laughter, and the tricks of knavery (in which he was allowed free

indulgence in the presence of the king), gave him the appellation of

the king's fool, or knave.

"Whether this explanation be really the origin from whence the knave in

the old cards is derived, may still remain undetermined, but it appears

to us the most rational way of accounting for it. Nor is it indeed

essential to our present purpose; the name of knave in our opinion is

vulgar, unmeaning, and inconsistent, and being moreover absolutely

incompatible with the dignity of our characters, and the uniformity of

our plan, we have entirely rejected it, and substituted a knight in its

stead. This being a title of honour, not only in immediate succession

to that of king and queen, but is ever considered as an honorable

appendage to royalty itself."

About 1819, a set of cleverly drawn satirical cards, with the marks of

the suits introduced in the same manner as in Cotta's cards, appeared

at Paris. Their satire is directed against the political party then in

the ascendant; and in the Nine of Hearts, portraits of Chateaubriand

and other persons, both lay and clerical, are introduced as advocates

of the old order of things; in the background are the ruins of the

Bastille, and at the foot is the inscription, "_Les Immobiles_." The

coat cards of the suit of HEARTS consist of figures representing

three popular journals: King, "CONSTITUTIONNEL,"--a figure in Roman

costume, with sword and shield, defending a column inscribed: "_Charte

constitutionnel. Liberté de la Presse. Liberté Individuelle. Loi des

Elections. Tolérance._" Queen, "MINERVE,"--Minerva putting to flight

certain evil spirits of the "Partie Prêtre."--Knave, "FIGARO,"--the

character in proper costume. The coat cards of SPADES are: King,

"CONSERVATEUR,"--a Jesuit with a sword in one hand, and a torch in the

other. Queen, "QUOTIDIENNE,"--an old woman holding in her left hand a

book inscribed, "_Pensée Chrétienne quotidienne_;" and in her right an

extinguisher, which she is about to clap upon a figure of Truth seen

emerging from a well. Knave, "BAZILE,"--figure of Chateaubriand, in

clerical costume, but concealing a Jesuit's cap under his robe; beside

him is a braying ass, on its knees. CLUBS: King, "DÉBATS,"--the Editor

endeavouring to carry two large bags, the one inscribed, "_Débats_" and

the other "_Empire_:" in the distance, two asses mutually caressing

each other. Queen, "GAZETTE,"--a hard-featured old lady, with a pen

in her hand, at a writing table: near to her a magpie in a cage.

Knave, "CLOPINEAU,"--the figure of Talleyrand; towards the top are the

signs of the political zodiac which he had already passed through.

In the only pack which I have had an opportunity of examining, the

Queen of DIAMONDS is wanting. The representative of the King is the

"MONITEUR,"--a brazen head on a kind of pedestal, round which are stuck

flags of various colours, indicative of the different parties whose

cause the paper had advocated. Knave, "DON QUICHOTTE,"--the Don, with

shield and lance, attacking a windmill: the person intended by this

figure I have not been able to discover.[302]

With respect to the common names of the first three numeral

cards,--Ace, Deuce, and Tray,--it may be observed that the term Ace or

As is common in almost every country in Europe as the designation of

the One at cards;[303] and that the terms Deuce and Tray, signifying

Two and Three, may have been derived either from the Spanish _Dos_ and

_Tres_, or from the French _Deux_ and _Trois_. The Deuce of cards, it

may be observed, has no connexion with the term Deuce as used in the

familiar expression "to play the Deuce;" in which it is synonymous with

the Devil, or an evil spirit, and is of Northern origin. In some parts

of the country, the Deuce, though lower in value, is considered to be a

more fortunate card than the Tray; and "There's luck in the Deuce, but

none in the Tray," is a frequent expression amongst old card-players,

who like to enliven the game with an occasional remark as they lay down

a card. In Northumberland, the Four of Hearts at Whist is sometimes

called "Hob Collingwood,"[304] and is considered by old ladies an

unlucky card. As far as memory can trace, according to Captain Chamier,

in his novel entitled the 'Arethusa,' the Four of Clubs has been called

by sailors the "devil's bedpost." In Northamptonshire, according to a

writer in the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' 1791 (p. 141), the Queen of Clubs

is called "Queen Bess," and the Four of Spades, "Ned Stokes."[305]

In various parts of Ireland, but more particularly in the county of

Kilkenny, the Six of Hearts is known by the name of "Grace's card;" and

it is said to have acquired that name from the following circumstance.

A gentleman of the name of Grace, being solicited, with promises of

royal favour, to espouse the cause of William III, gave the following

answer, written on the back of the Six of Hearts, to an emissary of

Marshal Schomberg's, who had been commissioned to make the proposal

to him:--"Tell your master I despise his offer; and that honour and

conscience are dearer to a gentleman than all the wealth and titles a

prince can bestow."

The Nine of Diamonds is frequently called the "Curse of Scotland;"

and the common tradition is that it obtained this name in consequence

of the Duke of Cumberland having written his sanguinary orders for

military execution, after the battle of Culloden, on the back of a

Nine of Diamonds. This card, however, appears to have been known in

the North as the "Curse of Scotland" many years before the battle

of Culloden; for Dr. Houstoun, speaking of the state of parties in

Scotland shortly after the rebellion of 1715, says that the Lord

Justice-Clerk Ormistone, who had been very zealous in suppressing the

rebellion, and oppressing the rebels, "became universally hated in

Scotland, where they called him the Curse of Scotland; and when the

ladies were at cards playing the Nine of Diamonds, (commonly called the

Curse of Scotland) they called it the Justice Clerk."[306]

In the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for 1786, a correspondent offers the

following heraldic conjecture on the subject. "There is a common

expression made use of at cards, which I have never heard any

explanation of. I mean the Nine of Diamonds being called the Curse

of Scotland. Looking lately over a book of heraldry, I found nine

diamonds, or lozenges, conjoined,--or, in the heraldic language, Gules,

a cross of lozenges,--to be the arms of Packer. Colonel Packer appears

to have been one of the persons who was on the scaffold when Charles

the First was beheaded, and afterwards commanded in Scotland, and is

recorded to have acted in his command with considerable severity. It

is possible that his arms might, by a very easy metonymy, be called

the Curse of Scotland; and the Nine of Diamonds, at cards, being

very similar, in figure, to them, might have ever since retained the

appellation." Another correspondent says that he has always understood

that the application of the expression, "the Curse of Scotland," to

the nine of diamonds was not earlier than the year 1707; and that he

thinks it more probable that the nine lozenges in the arms of the Earl

of Stair, who made the Union, should have given rise to the phrase,

than the arms of Packer. In the same Magazine, for 1788, we have "One

more conjecture concerning the Nine of Diamonds." It is syllogistic

in form, and appears to have been intended as a clinch to the

controversy.[307] "The Curse of Scotland must be something which that

nation hate and detest; but the Scots hold in the utmost detestation

the Pope; at the game of Pope Joan, the Nine of Diamonds is Pope;

therefore the Nine of Diamonds is the Curse of Scotland. Q. E. D."

In the 'Oracle, or Resolver of Questions,' a duodecimo volume, printed

about 1770, the following solution is given, which is perhaps as near

the truth as any of the preceding conjectures. "_Q._ Pray why is the

Nine of Diamonds called the Curse of Scotland? _A._ Because the crown

of Scotland had but nine diamonds in it, and they were never able to

get a tenth."

The word Trump, signifying a card of the suit which has the superiority

at certain games, such superiority being determined by hazard, is

derived either from the French _Triomphe_, or the Spanish _Triunfo_:

at cards, these words have precisely the same meaning as the English

Trump.[308] With the French, _Triomphe_ is also the name of a game at

cards; and in England the old game of Ruff seems also to have been

called Trump or Triumph.[309] At Gleek, the Ace was called _Tib_; the

Knave, _Tom_; and the Four, _Tiddy_. The Five and Six appear to have

been respectively called _Towser_ and _Tumbler_, and to have counted

double when turned up. At All-Fours, the Knave appears in his proper

character of JACK,--a serving-man, not a cheat, or rogue.

At certain games the Knave of Clubs is called PAM. A few years ago

the name was applied to the celebrated public character whom Byron is

supposed to have designated as "a moral chimney-sweep," in one of the

cantos of Don Juan.[310] Most of the terms in the game of Ombre are

Spanish.

Formerly a pack of cards was usually called a "Pair of cards;" and it

appears deserving of remark, that the Italians use the word _Pajo_,

which properly signifies a pair, in precisely the same sense when

applied to a pack of cards,--_Pajo di carte_. In the time of Queen

Elizabeth a pack of cards appears to have been sometimes called a

bunch. In the time of Charles II the term "Pair of Cards" fell into

disuse; and perhaps one of the latest instances of its employment, is

to be found in Poor Robin's Almanac for 1684, under the month December,

where the writer, in his introductory verses, laments the decline of

good housekeeping in the houses of the rich:

"The kitchen that a-cold may be,

For little fire you in it may see.

Perhaps a pair of cards is going,

And that's the chiefest matter doing."

The French call a pack of cards "_Un Jeu de cartes_,"--a game, or

play of cards; and the German name, "_Ein Spiel Karten_" has the same

literal meaning as the French.

As the object of this work is not to teach people how to play at cards,

those who wish for information, with respect to the different games,

are referred to Cotton's 'Complete Gamester,' Seymour, Hoyle, and the

Académie des Jeux,--taking with them this piece of advice:

"He who hopes at Cards to win,

Must never think that cheating's sin;

To make a trick whene'er he can,

No matter _how_, should be his plan.

No case of conscience must he make,

Except how he may save his stake;

The only object of his prayers,--

Not to be caught, and kicked down stairs."[311]

With respect to the manufacture of cards, it would appear to have been

a regular business, both in Germany and Italy, about 1420; but, though

it has generally been asserted that the earliest cards for common use

were engraved on wood, there is yet reason to believe that they were at

first executed by means of a stencil; and that the method of engraving

the outlines on wood was of subsequent introduction. However this

may be, it is certain that the art of wood-engraving was at an early

period applied to the manufacture of cards, and that in Germany, in

the latter quarter of the fifteenth century, the term _Briefdrucker_,

or _Briefmaler_,--card-printer, or card-painter--was commonly used to

signify a wood-engraver. From the importation of playing cards into

England being prohibited by an act of parliament in 1463, as injurious

to the interests of native tradesmen and manufacturers, it might be

concluded that at that time the manufacture of cards was established

in this country. No cards, however, of undoubted English manufacture

of so early a date have yet been discovered. In the sixteenth century,

there is reason to believe that most of the cards used in England

were imported either from France, or the Netherlands. In the reign

of Elizabeth the importation of cards was a monopoly;[312] but from

the time of her successor James I, it would appear that most of the

cards used in this country were of home manufacture. From the reign

of Charles II to the present time, cards have, either directly or

indirectly, been subject to a duty.

In France, by an ordonnance dated 21st February, 1581, a tax of "_un

ecu sou_" was ordered to be paid upon each bale of cards of two hundred

pounds weight intended for exportation; and, by an ordonnance of the

22d May, 1583, a tax of "_un sou parisis_" was laid upon each pack of

cards intended for home use. By an ordonnance of the 14th January,

1605, the exportation of cards was prohibited; but, as a compensation

to the manufacturers, the duty on cards for home consumption was

reduced. As the collection of the duties was rendered difficult in

consequence of the manufacturers residing in so many different places,

it was, at the same time, determined that the only places where the

manufacture of cards might be carried on, should be Paris, Rouen,

Lyons, Toulouse, Troyes, Limoges, and Thiers in Auvergne. Shortly

afterwards, the same privilege was accorded to Orleans, Angers, Romans,

and Marseilles; and, by way of recompense to other places, it was

determined that the tax should be expended in the encouragement of

manufactures. Louis XV, having established the Ecole Militaire, in

1751, ordered that the money raised by the tax on cards, should be

applied to its support. The company, or guild, of card-makers of Paris

was suppressed in 1776, but re-established a few months afterwards. The

period of their first establishment appears to be unknown. In their

statutes of the year 1594, they call themselves _Tarotiers_.[313]

In Russia, at the present day, the manufacture of cards is a royal

monopoly. A few months ago a paragraph appeared in the Literary

Gazette, stating that though 14,400 packs were manufactured daily, yet

the supply was unequal to the demand, and that a petition had been

presented to the emperor praying for a more liberal issue. In Mexico

a considerable revenue was derived from a tax on cards; and it would

appear to be still productive, notwithstanding the unsettled state of

the country, as it is one of those which have been appropriated, _ad

interim_, by the American commander-in-chief.

Most of the cards engraved on copper are merely "cartes de fantaisie,"

designed rather for the entertainment of the more wealthy classes, than

for the ordinary purposes of play. Until a comparatively recent period

the coat cards, after having been printed in outline from wood blocks,

were coloured by means of stencils; but at present, in this country,

the colours are all applied by means of the press. The following

account of the manner of making cards at the manufactory of Messrs. De

La Rue and Company, of London, is extracted from Bradshaw's Journal,

No. 24, 16th April, 1842.

"The first object that engages our attention, is the preparation of

the paper intended to be formed into cards. It is found that ordinary

paper, when submitted to pressure, acquires a certain degree of

polish, but not sufficient for playing-cards of the finest quality.

In order therefore that it may admit of the high finish which is

afterwards imparted, the paper is prepared by a white enamel colour,

consisting of animal size and other compounds. This substance, which

renders the paper impermeable to the atmosphere, is laid on by a large

brush, and left to dry by exposure to the atmosphere.

"The paper being ready for use, we proceed to explain the printing of

the fronts of the cards, which are technically distinguished as _pips_

and _têtes_.

"To commence with the simpler, the _pips_ (i.e. the hearts, diamonds,

spades, and clubs:)--sets of blocks are produced, each containing forty

engravings of one card; and as the ordinary method of letterpress

printing is employed, forty impressions of one card are obtained at the

same moment. As the pips bear but one colour, black or red, they are

worked together at the hand-press, or at one of Cowper's steam printing

machines.

"For the têtes, however (i.e. the court cards), which, with the

outline, contain five colours--dark blue, light blue, black, red, and

yellow,--a somewhat different contrivance is employed. The colours are

printed separately, and are made to fit into each other with great

nicety, in the same manner as in printing silks or paper-hangings. For

this purpose a series of blocks are provided, which, if united, would

form the figure intended to be produced. By printing successively from

these blocks, the different colours fall into their proper places,

until the whole process is completed. Great care is of course necessary

in causing each coloured impression to fit in its proper place, so that

it may neither overlap another, nor leave any part imprinted upon; but

as the hand-press is employed, the workman is enabled to keep each

colour in _register_ by means of points in the tympan of the press or

on the engraving.

"The whole operation of printing at the press being completed,

the sheets are next carried to drying-rooms, heated to about 80°

Fahrenheit, and are allowed to remain there three or four days, in

order to fix the colours.

"The successful printing of playing-cards greatly depends upon the

quality of the inks which are employed. The common printing ink,

even after the lapse of years, is liable to slur or smutch. In the

manufacture of playing-cards, such inks only must be used as will

bear the friction to which the cards are subjected in the process of

polishing, as well as in passing between the fingers of the players.

The colours employed by the Messrs. De La Rue are prepared from the

best French lamp-black, or Chinese vermilion, ground in oil;--this is

effected by a machine, consisting of cylinders revolving at regulated

speeds, by which any defects from the inattention of the workman,

in grinding by hand, are avoided. These colours are now brought to

such perfection, that the card itself is not more durable than the

impression on its surface.

"The paper intended for the _backs_, being previously prepared with

the colour desired, in the same manner as the _fronts_, is printed in

various devices at the hand-press or steam-machine. The _plaid_ or

_tartan_ backs are produced from a block engraved with straight lines,

and printed in one colour, which is afterwards crossed with the same or

any other colour, by again laying the sheet on the block, so that the

first lines cross the second printing at any required angle. A variety

of other devices are obtained from appropriate blocks; and some, like

the court cards, and by the same process, are printed in a number of

colours.

"In printing _gold backs_, size is substituted for ink; the face of

the card is then powdered over with bronze dust, and rubbed over with

a soft cotton or woollen dabber, by which the bronze is made to adhere

to those parts only which have received the size. The printing of

gold backs is usually executed after the card is pasted, but we have

described the process here for the sake of convenience.

"As connected with the printing of backs, we may mention that the

Messrs. De La Rue have lately taken out a patent for printing from

woven wire, from which some highly beautiful patterns are obtained,

bearing, of course, a perfect resemblance to the woven fabric. The

wire when prepared for printing, is merely fastened at the ends by two

pieces of wood, and stretched over a cast-iron block, on which it is

fixed by means of screws passing through the wood into the iron. The

variety of these patterns is very great; the printing is effected in

the ordinary manner.

"Hitherto we have been referring to printed _sheets of paper_, which

are either the size of double or single foolscap; the next object,

therefore, is the conversion of these sheets into card-boards of the

usual thickness. In France the card generally consists of two sheets

of paper; but in England a more substantial article is demanded; it is

generally four sheets thick, that is, the foreside and the back, and

two inside leaves of an inferior description.

"In order to make a firm and smooth card, it is first necessary to

obtain a paste of an equable well-mixed substance. A paste of this

quality is produced from flour and water, mixed together, and heated to

the boiling point, in a forty-gallon copper, by steam; which is made to

pass into the interstices between the copper and an external casing of

cast-iron, of the same shape as the boiler. By employing steam, instead

of fire, the paste is not liable to burn, or adhere to the sides of the

copper, and thus become deteriorated in its colour and quality.

"Previous to the commencement of pasting, it is necessary that the

sheets be arranged in the order in which they are to be pasted. This

operation is termed _mingling_. The _insides_, which are merely two

sheets of paper pasted together, are placed between the foresides and

backs, so that the paste may take them up without the possibility of

error. A heap of paper so pasted will therefore uniformly consist of

the foreside and back, between which, the inside, pasted on each side,

is placed.

"The paste is laid on by means of a large brush, resembling the head

of a hair-broom, with which the workman, by a series of systematic

circular movements, distributes a thin coat. And by way of illustration

of the long practice and manual dexterity which are necessary for

perfection in even the simplest departments of art or labour, it may be

worthy of notice that card-pasting is in itself a branch of labour, and

that three or four years' practice is necessary to render the operator

complete master of his business.

"These newly-pasted cards are then, in quantities of four or five

reams at a time, subjected to the gradual but powerful pressure of a

hydraulic press of one hundred tons, worked by a steam-engine. By this

means the water in the paste exudes, and the air between the leaves is

expelled, which would otherwise remain, and give the card a blistered

appearance.

"After remaining a short time in the press, they are hung up on lines

to dry; and to prevent, as much as possible, their warping while in

this limpid state, small pins or wires are passed through the corners,

and are then dexterously bent over the lines in the drying-room.

"The card-boards, after thus drying, are subjected to the pressure

and friction of a brush-cylinder,--the face of which is covered with

short thickset bristles, which not merely polish the surface, but even

penetrate into the interstices. At this stage of the manufacture, cards

of a superior description are waterproofed on the back with a varnish

prepared for the purpose, so that they may not be marked by the

fingers in dealing. When so prepared, they will keep perfectly clean,

and may even be washed, without injuring the impression or softening

the card.

"In continuation of the process of polishing, the card-boards are

passed between revolving rollers of moderate warmth, one being of

iron, the other of paper cut edge-ways; they are next subjected to

two bright iron-faced rollers; and finally, to the number of ten or

fifteen at a time, they are interleaved with thin sheets of copper,

and effectually milled by being passed about a dozen times between two

large and powerful cylinders. After being thus thoroughly polished, for

the purpose of being flattened they are subjected to the pressure of a

hydrostatic press of eight hundred tons, worked by steam.

"It may appear surprising that so much labour and machinery, and such

circuitous means--requiring the operation of four distinct cylindrical

machines, as well as a hydraulic press, all worked by steam,--should

be required for effecting an object apparently so simple as that of

polishing and flattening a card-board. It is, however, found that this

end cannot be attained in a more expeditious manner, but that the

means adopted must be gradual, though increasingly powerful in their

different stages.

"The boards being printed and pasted, polished and flattened, are next

cut up into single cards. The apparatus by which this is effected, and

by which perfect exactness in the size of the cards is preserved, may

be briefly described as a pair of scissors from two to three feet long,

one blade of which is permanently fixed on the table. The card-board,

being placed upon the bench, is slipped between the blades of the

scissors, and pushed up to a screw-gauge adjusted to the requisite

width; the moveable blade, by being then closed, cuts the card-board

into eight narrow slips, called _traverses_, each containing five

cards. These _traverses_ then undergo a similar operation at a smaller

pair of gauge-scissors, where they are cut up into single cards, to the

amount of thirty thousand daily.

"All that now remains is the making-up into packs. After assorting

the cards, the workman begins by laying out on a long table a given

number (say two hundred) at one time; he then covers these with another

suit, and so on consecutively until he has laid out all the cards that

constitute a pack; so that by this operation two hundred packs are

completed almost simultaneously. The best cards are called Moguls, the

others Harrys, and Highlanders,--the inferior cards consist of those

which have any imperfection in the impression, or any marks or specks

on the surface.

"It may be necessary to remark that the Aces of Spades are printed at

the Stamp Office, whether the cards be for exportation or for the home

market,--the paper for printing being sent to the Stamp Office by the

maker; and an account of the number of aces furnished by the Stamp

Office is kept by the authorities. Before cards are delivered by the

manufacturer an officer is sent to seal them, and a duty of a shilling

per pack is paid monthly for those that are sold for home consumption.

But as they are not liable to duty when intended for exportation, the

card-maker enters into a bond that they shall be duly shipped, and an

officer is sent to see them put into the case, and to seal it up."

FOOTNOTES:

[220] He says that the name is pure Egyptian, and that it is composed

of the word TAR, signifying road, way; and the word RO, ROS, ROG, which

means royal: thus we have Tarog--Tarocchi--the Royal Road. By such a

road as this Mons. Court de Gebelin seems to have arrived at much of

his "recondite knowledge of things unknown."--See his Monde Primitif,

huitième livraison, Dissertations mêlées: "Du jeu de tarots, où l'on

traite de son origine, où l'on explique ses allégories, et où l'on fait

voir qu'il est la source de nos cartes modernes à jouer."--Tome i, pp.

365-94. 4to, Paris, 1781.

[221] "Une dernière citation achevra de démontrer que les cartes et

les naibi sont bien la même chose; le Traité de Théologie de Saint

Antoine, évêque de Florence en 1457, porte: _Et idem videtur de

chartis vel naibis_; et encore dans un autre endroit du même ouvrage:

_De factoribus et venditoribus alearum et taxillarum et chartarum et

naiborum_."--Précis Historique et Explicatif sur les Cartes à jouer,

prefixed to the specimens of cards published under the title of 'Jeux

de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numérales, du XIV^{me} au XVIII^{me}

Siècle,' by the Society of Bibliophiles Français. Imperial 4to, Paris,

1844.

[222] The word Tarot has been supposed to be a corruption of Tarocchi.

Cards marked on the back with lines crossing lozenge-wise, and with

little spots, are called Cartes Tarotées; and in France card-makers

appear to have been formerly called Tarcotiers. Menestrier conceives

that it was from these "lignes frettées en forme de rezeuil" cards were

named _Tarcuits_, and _Cartes Tarautées_. He says that Tare,--_defaut_,

_déchet_, _tache_,--signifies properly a hole, _un trou_; and he

derives it from the Greek τερειν, to bore. From _Tare_ he

also derives _Tariff_, a _ruled_ book for entering the duties on

goods. Mons. Duchesne says that Tarot "vient en effet de l'Italien

_tarrochio_, dont à la vérité nous ignorons encore la signification."

[223] Mons. Duchesne thus accounts for those cards being called Atous:

"Ces cartes sont dites _a tutti_, à tous, c'est-à-dire supérieures à

toute autre, et n'appartenant à aucune couleur." In other games at

cards, the French _Atout_ has the same meaning as the English _Trump_.

[224] The Empress is supposed to have been substituted for the Pope,

who occurs in the old series of figures assumed by M. Duchesne to have

been the original Tarocchi. In a similar manner, L'Amoureux is supposed

to have been substituted for Apollo; the Chariot for Mars; the Capuchin

or Hermit for Saturn; the Wheel of Fortune for Astrology; and Le Pendu

for Prudence.

[225] The figures of two or three of the Atous are sometimes

differently represented. In a pack now before me, inscribed "Cartes

des Suisses," manufactured at Brussels, in No. 2, instead of Juno,

there is a figure inscribed "Le 'Spagnol, Capitano Eracasse;" in No. 5,

Bacchus supplies the place of Jupiter; and No. 16, which is inscribed

"La Foudre," shows a tree struck by lightning, instead of a tower. In

this set, the Fou is numbered 22. Tarots are generally about a fourth

longer, and a little wider than English cards, and are usually coarsely

coloured.

[226] Memorie spettanti alla storià della Calcografia, dal conte

Leopold Cicognara. 8vo, Prata, 1831.--Cited in Duchesne's Précis

Historique sur les Cartes à jouer, prefixed to the specimens of playing

cards published by the Société des Bibliophiles Français.

[227] This book was written by the notorious Pietro Aretine. A second

edition was published in 1589, and a third in 1651. The title of the

last is 'Le Carte Parlanti; Dialogo di PARTENIO ETIRO; [the anagram of

PIETRO ARETINE] nel quale si tratta del Giuoco con moralità piacevole.'

[228] Though Mons. Duchesne generally speaks of those cards as if it

had been positively ascertained that they were painted by Jacquemin

Gringonneur, we yet find the following salvo, in the Précis Historique:

"Mais le fait de leur haute destination à l'usage d'un roi, ne repose

que sur des conjectures incertaines; espérons qu'un jour quelque

antiquaire favorisé par un heureux hasard aura peut-être le bonheur de

changer nos doutes en certitude."

[229] The Abbé's notice of those cards is by no means precise; and

when he speaks of the four monarchies contending with each other,

it is evident that he had either an imperfect recollection of them,

or that he supposed some old numeral cards, of four suits, to have

belonged to the same series.--"J'ai vu chez M. de Ganières un jeu de

cartes (je ne sais s'il étoit complet) telles qu'elles étoient dans

leur origine. Il y avoit un pape, des empereurs, les quatre monarchies,

qui combattoient les uns contre les autres: ce qui a donné naissance

à nos quatre couleurs. Elles étoient longues de 7 à 8 pouces. C'est

en Italie que cette belle invention a pris naissance dans le XIV^e

siècle."--Longueruana, tom, i, page 107.

[230] Materiali per servire alla storià dell' origine e de' progressi

dell' incisione in rame e in legno, col. da Pietro Zani. 8vo, Parma,

1802. The author's observations relating to cards are to be found at

pp. 78-84, and pp. 149-93.

[231] There was also a series of the same subjects engraved in the

sixteenth century.

[232] Bartsch, Peintre-Graveur, 8vo, Vienna, 1812.--His notices of old

cards are to be found in vol. x, pp. 70-120; and vol. xiii, pp. 120-38.

[233] "Singer fait remarquer, avec raison, qu'on n'a pas d'exemple de

cartes à jouer d'aussi grandes dimensions, qu'il n'y a ici des figures

sans pièces numérales, et que, d'ailleurs, les sujets ne sont pas ceux

des tarots ordinaires. Il aurait pu ajouter que des gravures exécutées

avec tant de soins, que les chefs-d'œuvre d'un art nouveau dont le

premier mérite s'appréciait par la beauté de l'empreinte, n'ont pu

être destinés à recevoir l'enluminure qui entre essentiellement dans

la confection du jeu de cartes."--Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes à

jouer, p. 18.

[234] Observations sur les Cartes à jouer.

[235] This subject is erroneously numbered, both in the Roman

characters and in the cyphers, as has been previously observed.

[236] These cards were exhibited to the Antiquarian Society by Dr.

Stukeley, in 1763. They were purchased in 1776, by Mr. Tutet, and on

his decease, they were bought by Mr. Gough. In 1816 they were in the

possession of Mr. Triphook, the bookseller.

[237] Mons. Duchesne expresses himself on this subject, as follows:

"Les enseignes employées pour les couleurs out éprouvé beaucoup de

variations: cœur, carreau, trèfle et pique sont les plus répandues;

mais, en Italie et en Espagne, elles sont encore désignées par

_coupes_, _deniers_, _bâtons_, _épées_. En Allemagne on dit _rouge_,

_grelots_, _glands_ et _cert._ Quelquefois, en conservant

les cœurs, les deniers ont été remplacés par des grelots; puis des

glands tiennent lieu des trèfles, et des feuilles de lierre remplacent

les piques, dont elles ont la forme."--Observations sur les Cartes à

jouer.

[238] Mons. Duchesne says that the mark which the French call Pique

was called _Capprel_ in Italy, from its resemblance to the fruit of

the Caper.--Précis Historique, prefixed to Jeux de Cartes Tarots et

Numérales, p. 11.

[239] Carte Parlanti, p. 57, edit. 1651.

[240] The name of Lancelot did not really appear on the Valet of

Trèfle, in the time of Père Daniel; but from a passage in Daneau's

'Liber de Alea, ou Breve remontrance sur les jeux de Cartes et de Dez,'

printed in 1579, he concluded,--and, in this instance, correctly,--that

Lancelot was the old name. By a royal ordinance of 1619, the

card-makers of France were required to put their names and devices upon

the Valet of Trèfle; and, from this circumstance, he considers that the

name of Lancelot was omitted.

[241] 'The Perpetual Almanac, or a Gentleman Soldier's Prayer-book,

shewing how one Richard Middleton was taken before the Mayor of the

city he was in for using cards in church, during Divine Service.'

[242] Daniel, 'Mémoire sur l'Origine du jeu de Piquet, trouvé dans

l'histoire de France, sous le règne de Charles VII,' printed in the

Journal de Trévoux, for May, 1720. A summary of this memoir is given

by Peignot, who questions the correctness of Daniel's explanations,

but yet does not venture to say what they really are--mere gratuitous

conceits. It would seem that the French consider the invention of

Piquet as a point of national honour, and that the native author who

should call it in question, would render himself liable to a "suspicion

of incivism."

[243] "Ces cartes rarissimes faisaient partie d'un jeu de cartes

numérales gravées sur bois sous notre roi Charles VII, vers 1425."

[244] Duchesne, 'Observations sur les Cartes à jouer,' in the Annuaire

Historique, pp. 204-7, 1837; and Leber, 'Etudes Historiques sur les

Cartes à jouer,' pp. 6-8, and p. 72, 1842.

[245] Mons. Leber insists that these names confirm the testimony of

Covelluzzo--previously quoted at page 23--that the game of cards was

brought into Viterbo, in 1379, and that it came from the country of

the Saracens. Mons. Leber even calls the figures "Gallo-Sarrazines,"

evidently wishing it to be supposed that they had been copied from a

Saracen or Arabic type.--The following is a summary of his notions of

the changes made in the characters, when cards were first introduced

amongst Christian nations: "Le _roi de Carreau_ de notre jeu de Charles

VII porte le nom de COURSUBE, prétendu héros sarrazin dont parlent

les vieux romanciers; et le nom d'Apollin, inscrit à côté du _roi

de Pique_, est celui d'une idole imaginaire également attribuée aux

Sarrazins.

"... On a dû d'abord, à quelques exceptions près, remplacer les

idoles par des figures compatibles avec les dogmes et la morale du

christianisme. Le _pape_, chef de l'Eglise chrétienne, a pu être

substitué à Vichnou; _l'ermite_ à un dervis; la _maison Dieu_ à une

pagode; et, quant aux symboles généraux, tels que le _soleil_, la

_mort_, le _jugement_, auxquels sont associés le _bâteleur_ et le

_bouffon_ ou _fou_, il a suffi d'y attacher un nouveau sens mystique

sans rien changer aux images. Les mêmes substitutions s'opèrent dans

les portraits des princes et des héros, figures d'un autre ordre qui

sont passées exclusivement, avec leur suite, dans l'économie du jeu

Français."--Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes à jouer, p. 72.--Mons.

Leber appears here to narrate a dream which he had after rocking

himself asleep on his Arabian hobby-horse.

[246] This book was sold, together with others from the Cathedral

Library of Peterborough, by Mr. Hodgson, 192 Fleet street, Dec. 13-18,

1841. In his catalogue, No. 1492, it is thus described: "Sermones M.

Vincentii (wants end)."

[247] "L'image du valet de pique porte avec elle une preuve de la

nationalité ardennoise; Ogier, comme tous les descendants de Saint

Hubert d'Ardennes, avait le privilège de guérir l'hydrophobie et

d'en préserver.... L'action est réciproque: le chien ne suit pas, il

s'élance pour implorer protection et assistance, et le neveu de Saint

Hubert accorde son intervention.... Il est à remarquer que le corps du

chien est en partie caché par l'escarpement du terrain, caractéristique

du pays des Ardennes."--Eléméns Carlovingiens linguistiques et

littéraires (par J. Barrois), p. 265, 4to, Paris, 1846.

[248] "Le P. Daniel pose en fait que 'le nom du quatrième valet (le

valet de trèfle) est inconnu, parce qu'il n'y a pas longtemps que

les faiseurs de jeux de cartes _l'ont aboli_, en mettant leur nom

à la place de celui de ce valet.' Il croit pourtant l'avoir trouvé

dans le traité de Daneau, d'où il résultérait, selon lui, que c'était

LANCELOT. Si Daniel avait pu consulter les pièces du XVI^e siècle, il

n'aurait pas hasardé ce jugement conjectural; il aurait craint que

sa conjecture ne fût pas exacte, parce que les noms des cartes ayant

beaucoup varié, LANCELOT pouvait n'être point celui du valet de trèfle

du temps de l'auteur dont il s'appuie. Il n'aurait pas dit que les

faiseurs de cartes ont _aboli ce valet_ pour mettre leur nom à la place

du sien, parce qu'il aurait appris que cette substitution de nom leur

fût imposée par une ordonnance de Louis XIII, à laquelle ils ont dû se

soumettre."--Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes à jouer, p. 32.

[249] Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, received the investiture

of the kingdom of Naples and Sicily, in 1265.

[250] "Le nom du valet de cœur me paroit extrèmement curieux;

car il doit nécessairement rappeler le nom d'Erart de Valeri, le

fameux compagnon de Charles d'Anjou, roi de Sicile, celui auquel les

contemporains attribuoient en grande partie le gain de la bataille de

Tagliacozza, dans laquelle périt Manfred. Nous pouvons donc croire

que le jeu aura été fait en Sicile ou en Italie; car les quatre noms

Lancelot, Roland, Ogier, et Valeri étoient également familiers aux

souvenirs des Siciliens du XIV^e siècle. J'ai dit un mot de cet Erard

de Valery à l'article de Charles d'Anjou, dans mon Romancero François."

[251] Henry VII ascended the throne in 1485.--Mons. Duchesne observes

that, of all the old cards preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi, only

one displays a rose,--namely, a king. There is an old coat card,

engraved on copper, in the print-room of the British Museum, which,

like that alluded to by Mons. Duchesne, has a rose as the mark of the

suit.

[252] See the prohibition against the importation of playing cards,

in 1463; enacted by Parliament, in consequence of the complaints of

the manufacturers and tradesmen of London and other parts of England,

against the importation of foreign manufactured wares, which greatly

obstructed their own employment, previously referred to at page 96.

[253] Mons. Leber, after having noticed Singer's objection to the

so-called Tarocchi cards, from their size and want of numeral cards,

thus proceeds: "Il aurait pu ajouter que des gravures exécutées

avec tant de soins, que les chefs-d'œuvre d'un art nouveau, dont

le premier mérite s'appréciait par la beauté de l'empreinte, n'ont

pu être destinés à recevoir l'enluminure qui entre essentiellement

dans la confection du jeu de cartes; et cette observation s'applique

à plusieurs suites d'estampes du même genre et du même siècle, dont

quelques-unes sont conservées au cabinet royal. Là, comme dans les

collections de Londres et d'Allemagne, elles sont toutes en feuilles

et en noir. Non-seulement l'étrangeté des signes distinctifs des

couleurs, mais la forme même de ces gravures, repousserait l'idée d'une

destination semblable à celle du jeu de cartes européen. Les unes

arrondies en médaillons, rappellent le champ circulaire des cartes

indiennes: d'autres couvrent un carré d'in-4^o; les plus communes sont

des carrés longs; mais au lieu des couleurs propres aux cartes à jouer,

on n'y voit que des images d'oiseaux, de quadrupèdes, de fleurs, de

fruits; ce sont des perroquets et des paons, des lièvres et des ours,

des singes et des lions, des grenades, des roses, et tous autres objets

dont le choix devait être purement arbitraire, quand il n'était pas

l'expression d'un jeu nouveau."--Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes à

jouer, p. 18.

[254] Those cards formerly belonged to a Mons. Volpato, and were

purchased of him, for the Bibliothèque du Roi, in 1833. He received

in exchange some cards of the same pack; and the set, completed with

fac-simile drawings of such as were wanting, were recently in the

possession of Messrs. Smith, of Lisle-street, Leicester-square, to whom

they were sent by Mons. Volpato for sale.

[255] The third character in those coat cards cannot properly be called

a Cavalier, and has indeed very little pretensions to the designation

of Squire. The Knaves are evidently common foot-soldiers, such as were

known in Italy by the name of Fanti.

[256] From the difficulty of giving in a wood-engraving those small

letters with sufficient clearness, they are omitted in the annexed

specimens. The numerals are also omitted, except in the Two of Pinks.

[257] Bartsch, Peintre-graveur, tom. x, pp. 70-6.--Singer, Researches

into the History of Playing Cards, p. 45-6, also pp. 205-8.

[258] In the 'Catalogue Raisonné of the select Collection of Engravings

of an Amateur' [Mr. Wilson] a full description is given of those cards,

pp. 87-91. 4to, 1828.

[259] One of these cards, a Queen, is evidently copied from the Queen

of Deer, but having a kind of flower as the mark of the suit, instead

of a Deer. Those two Queens, so precisely the same in form, attitude,

and costume, most certainly did not belong to the same pack.

[260] 'Deutsche Piquet-Karten aus den XV Iahrhunderte mit Trappola

Blattern.' The use of the word Trappola by writers on the history of

playing cards, without clearly explaining the sense in which they

employ it, leads to much confusion. It properly signifies a game;

which may be played with any kind of numeral cards consisting of four

suits, whatever the marks may be. Breitkopf seems here to apply the

term "Trappola Blattern" to cards which have Swords, Batons, Cups, and

Money as the marks of the suits; in the same manner as the cards now in

common use in this country are called by writers on the subject, French

Piquet cards. It is never, however, supposed that the game depends in

the least on the marks of the suits.

[261] From the time of the marriage of Joanna's sister, Catherine of

Arragon, with Arthur, Prince of Wales, till about the time of her

separation from his brother, Henry VIII, the pomegranate was frequently

introduced as an ornament in the royal decorations and furniture of the

English court.

[262] Those cards were purchased of Messrs. Smith, of Lisle street, who

also supplied the Museum with the two sets of old Italian engravings,

usually called Tarocchi cards.

[263] "Die Karte ist nach Wälscher Art in SPADE, COPPE, DANARI,

(die aber hier als Granatäpfel vorgestellt sind,) und BASTONI

getheilet."--Von Murr, Journal zur Kunstgeschicht, ii^{er.} Theil, s.

200.

[264] Breitkopf improperly calls those cards

"_Trappolier-Karte_,"--Trappola cards. Aretine, in his 'Carte

Parlanti,' makes a distinction between the game of Trappola, and that

played with Tarocchi cards.

[265] "Il y a dans chaque couleur un roi, un officier supérieur ou

capitaine nommé _Ober_, et un bas-officier, appelé _Unter_. On appelle

encore de nos jours dans l'empire, où les mots français ne sont pas si

en vogue, les officiers supérieurs _oberleute_, et les bas-officiers

_unterleute_. Les Français ont substitué à la place de l'officier

une _dame_, et à la place des bas-officiers des _valets_, ou des

braves, comme Bullet les nomme. Le bas-officier des glands est nommé

en Allemagne, _der grosze mentzel_, et celui de vert, _der kleine

mentzel_; enfin, l'as porte le nom de _daus_."--Heineken, Idée générale

d'une Collection complète d'Estampes, p. 239.

[266] "SOTA. La tercera figura, que tiènen los naipes, la qual

representa el infante, ò soldado. Dixose de la voz Italiana _soto_, que

vale debaxo, porque vá despues de las figuras de Rey, y Caballo, que le

son superiores."--In a superficial paper on old playing-cards, by the

baron de Reiffenberg, printed in the 'Bulletins de l'Académie Royale

des Sciences, des Lettres, et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique,' No. 10,

1847, the Sota is transformed into a female: "Dans les jeux de cartes

espagnols, la dame et le valet étaient remplacés par le _cavallo_ et la

_sota_, le cavalier et _la fille_."

[267] Mons. Duchesne, is of opinion that the Marquis Girolamo's cards

belonged to the same pack or set as the so-called Gringonneur cards

preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi. If Millin's description, however,

be correct, Mons. Duchesne is unquestionably wrong.

[268] Millin, Dictionnaire des Beaux Arts, tom. i, p. 201. Paris, 1806.

Quoted by Peignot.--Jacobello del Fiore flourished about 1420.--A

set of cards, "containing figures of the gods, with their emblematic

animals, and figures of birds also," were painted for Philip Visconti,

Duke of Milan, who died in 1447. Decembrio, in his life of this prince,

in the 20th volume of the 'Rerum Italicarum Scriptores,' says that they

cost fifteen hundred pieces of gold, and were chiefly executed by the

prince's secretary, Martianus Terdonensis. From the context, it appears

that they were not mere pictures, but were intended for some kind of

game.--Aretine, in his 'Carte Parlanti,' speaks with admiration of a

pack of cards painted by Jacopo del Giallo, a Florentine artist who

flourished about 1540.

[269] It is but fair to observe here that the Dutch name for the suit

which we call Spades, is _Scop_, a Shovel, or Spade; and that as

this name has been evidently given to the suit from the mark bearing

some resemblance to a spade, the same suit might have been called

Spades by the English for the same reason. This objection, however,

does not affect the conjecture with respect to Clubs. In the Nugæ

Venales, printed in Holland, 1648, we meet with the following: "Query.

Why are the Four Kings of cards, Diamonds, Trefoil, Hearts, and

Spades--Rhombuli, Trifolii, Cordis, et Ligonis--always poor?--Answer.

Because they are always at play; and play, according to the proverb, is

man's perdition. Their state is also in other respects most miserable;

for when through them much money is lost, they are condemned to the

flames, and burnt like wizards." The modern Dutch names for the

suits of French cards are _Hart_,--Heart; _Ruyt_, a lozenge-shaped

figure, a diamond-shaped pane of glass,--Diamonds; _Klaver_, Clover,

Trefoil,--Clubs; _Scop_, a Spade, Shovel, or Scoop,--Spades.

[270] Sharon Turner's History of England, vol. iii, p. 80.

[271] "Here begynneth a traetys callyde the Lordis flayle handlyde by

the Bushoppes powre theresshere Thomas Solme."--Without date. At the

end: "Prynted at Basyl by me Theophyll Emlos, undere the sygne of Sente

Peters Kay."--16mo. In one passage Henry VIII is appealed to as then

living.

[272] To the barn or grange of monasteries a chapel was frequently

attached, which used to be attended on holidays by country people who

lived at a distance from the parish church.

[273] 'The Poems of William Dunbar, now first collected, with notes and

a memoir of his life, by David Laing,' vol. ii, p. 67, 1834.--In the

notes to this edition, there are several references to the card-playing

of James IV of Scotland. His majesty, it would seem, was accustomed to

play with the "French Leich," John Damian, whom he afterwards promoted

to the abbacy of Tungland. Damian, who broke his thigh in an attempt to

fly from the top of Stirling castle, is the person ridiculed by Dunbar

as the "Fenyet Friar of Tungland."

[274] A few single cards, apparently belonging to this pack, preserved

in the British Museum, are ascribed to Hans Sebald Behaim.

[275] Those cards are the rarest of all Jost Amman's numerous works.

The first title of the volume is "Jodoci Ammanni, civis Noribergensis

Charta Lusoria, Tetrastichis illustrata per Janum Heinrichum Scroterum

de Gustrou." Then follows a long explanatory title in German, and the

imprint, "Gedruct zu Nüurnberg, durch Leonhardt Heussler, Anno, 1588."

There is a copy of the work in the British Museum.

[276] Breitkopf, Ursprung der Spielkarten, s. 33.

[277] "Voy. les Voyages de Samuel Purchas; ceux de Thomas Herbert en

Perse et dans plusieurs parties de l'Orient; le Suppl. t. ii, des

Cérémonies relig., avec les figures de B. Picart, et la Pl. de la fête

de Huly, t. i, 2^e part. des mêmes Cérémonies, p. 138."

[278] "Notamment EXODE, c. xxxix, v. 25."

[279] "Voy. D. Calmet, Dictionn. de la Bible, au mot CLOCHETTE."

[280] "Lalla Rookh, an oriental romance, by T. Moore."

[281] "Voy. Breitkopf, Ursprung der Spielkarten, p. 33, et la Pl. de

Henri VI et de Wulphilde (d'après l'Archéologie, sauf erreur). Les

mêmes figures, copiées par Jansen, se retrouvent t. i, de son Essai sur

l'Origine de la Gravure en Bois et en Taille-douce. Paris, 1808, 2 vol.

in-8. Le costume en a été évidemment rajeuni, mais il est hors de toute

vraisemblance qu'on y ait supposé une parure de grelots étrangère au

monument original."--Mons. Leber, in citing Breitkopf, spells his name

with uniform inaccuracy.

[282] "Gough, d'après Stukeley, Archæologia, t. viii, p. 152; et

Singer, p. 73."

[283] "La Fauconnerie de Guillaume Tardif, ch. x, p. 61; et les Oiseaux

de Proie, par G. B., p. 122 du recueil de J. du Fouilloux, édit. de

Paris, 1614, in-4, fig."

[284] "Quoiqu'on ait souvent traduit les mots _crotalum_ et

_crusma_,--κροταλον, κρωσμα,--par _grelot_, et réciproquement, on croit

que les instruments ainsi nommés par les Grecs et les Romains n'étaient

pas ce que nous appelons des grelots; et, en effet, la figure du grelot

ne se retrouve dans aucun monument d'une antiquité bien établie. Voy.

F. A. Lampe, De Cymbalis veterum, lib. i, cap. 4, 7, 8, et fig., pp. 26

et 44, Holl., pet. in-12."

[285] "Voy. les comp. 2 et 8 de la pl. 56 des Monuments de la Monarchie

française, par Montfaucon."

[286] "Ibid. pl. 55, d'après une miniature d'un manusc. angl. du X^e

siècle."

[287] "Hist. de la Maison de Montmorency.--Le Grand, Vie privée des

Franç. tom. ii."

[288] "Sidonius Apollinaris, Epist. 9, p. 245 de l'édit. in-4 de

Savaron. Ce commentateur allègue un passage de Prosper, lib. iii,

cap. 17, de Vita contemplativa, où il est aussi question d'oiseaux et

de chiens de chasse: 'Utuntur accipitribus ac saginatis canibus ad

venatum.'"

[289] "Suivant l'opinion la plus généralement adoptée, et que

partagèrent Velser, Duchesne, Fauchet, Du Tillet, Blondel, les frères

de Sainte-Marthe, Spelman, le P. Menestrier et autres. Voy. le Traité

de _l'Origine des Armoiries_, de ce dernier. Paris, 1679, in-12, pp. 53

et suiv."

[290] "Sentiment adopté par le président Hénault: 'Mathilde ...

broda en laine un monument qu'on voit dans l'église de Bayeux, de

l'expédition de son mari en Angleterre; la mort ne lui permit pas de

l'achever.' (Hist. de Fr. sous les ann. 1067-74.)"

[291] "Voy. Fauconnerie de G. Tardif."

[292] Leber, Etudes Historiques sur les Cartes à jouer, pp. 80-4.

[293] There is every reason to believe that the suit of cards which

we call Diamonds was not so named in consequence of the mark being

mistaken for the symbol of a precious stone, but merely on account

of its form. The Dutch call the same suit _Ruyt_, in consequence of

its form being like a lozenge-shaped pane of glass. The Diamonds on

cards are, in Northumberland, more especially amongst the colliers,

frequently termed _Picks_, in consequence of the acute angular points

being something like the Picks used in hewing coals. The Spanish name

_Oros_ appears to have been originally applied to the suit called by

the Italians _Denari_ or _Danari_, without the least reference to

the French _Carreaux_.--The mistakes on this subject appear to be

exclusively Mons. Leber's own.

[294] The probability is on the other side, namely, that the German

_Grün_, or Leaf, was the original of the French _Pique_. No French

cards hitherto discovered are of so early a date as those which have

Bells, Hearts, Leaves, and Acorns as the marks of the suits.

[295] The Crequier is a kind of wild plum-tree, and its leaves are

borne as the family arms of the house of Crequi. Armorial bearings of

this kind are called "_armoiries parlantes_" by French heralds.

[296] Mons. Leber should have said "Sept de Grün;" but then this would

have destroyed the anomaly which he was desirous of illustrating; for

there is nothing anomalous in the Leaves on German cards having a

resemblance to the leaves of a particular tree.

[297] See the passage at length, p. 135.

[298] On this card the name of the manufacturer appears--P. De

Lestre--together with his mark.

[299] In a pack of modern Portuguese cards now before me there is no

Queen; and the suits are Hearts, Bells, Leaves, and Acorns. The figures

of the coat cards are half-lengths and double--"de duas Cabeças;" so

that a head is always uppermost whichever way the card may be held.

In a pack of modern Spanish cards,--"Naypes Refinos"--also without a

Queen, the figures are also double; but the suits are Copas, Oros,

Spadas, and Bastos,--Cups, Money, Swords, and Clubs proper.--On modern

German cards the figures are frequently represented double in the same

manner.

[300] Peignot, Analyse de Recherches sur les Cartes à jouer, pp.

288-90. Paris, 1826. The following passage relative to the change of

manners which succeeded the Revolution is quoted by Mons. Peignot from

a periodical entitled 'Le Corsaire:'--"Les cartes en vogue jusqu'à

la révolution furent totalement abandonnées pendant les terribles

années de notre bouleversement politique. Le boston, le grave wisth,

le sémillant reversis, n'étoient plus conservés que chez quelques

bons bourgeois, dont ils n'avoient jamais sans doute enflammé les

passions, ou dans quelques vieilles maisons du Marais et du faubourg

Saint-Germain. La bouillotte n'étoit guère connue que de quelques

marchands; et même l'opinion publique flétrissait ceux dont une ignoble

avidité compromettoit la fortune. La mode avoit mis en faveur la

conversation, les soirées musicales, les soirées dansantes. L'écarté a

paru, et ce jeu niais et insipide a fait revivre parmi nous toutes les

fureurs du gothique lansquenet. Plus de conversation, plus de danses;

la sonate ou la romance du jour sont interrompues par le cri des

joueurs; le bal est désert, ou n'est plus peuplé que de vieux amateurs;

tandis que la jeunesse s'empresse autour des tables d'écarté."

[301] A description of the same cards by Mons. Amanton, member of the

Academy of Dijon, is given in Peignot's Analyse, p. 291: "Dans ce jeu,"

says Mons. Amanton, "les portraits des rois sont très ressemblans,

les costumes du temps bien observés; et même les noms des personnages

sont écrits en caractères de l'écriture en usage dans le siècle où ils

ont vécu. Malgré la perfection du travail, ces jolis dessins n'ont pu

l'emporter sur les anciennes images informes, qui rappellent l'enfance

de l'art; tant la force de l'habitude est tyrannique."

[302] Mons. Peignot, in his 'Analyse de Recherches sur les Cartes

à Jouer,' 1826, after noticing Cotta's cards, thus speaks of the

satirical cards above described: "C'est sans doute ce recueil qui a

donné lieu à un jeu de cartes très-malin, publié à Paris il y a sept à

huit ans, sous le titre de Cartes à rire; ce doit être, autant que je

puis me le rappeler, sous le ministère de M.D.C.... On attribue ce jeu

à M.A. ... C.A.D.C.D.D.O. Toutes les cartes, soit à personnages, soit

numériques, présentent des dessins charmans, des figures ingénieusement

groupées, des attitudes très-plaisantes. Mais l'esprit satyrique y est

poussé à l'excès; et ce n'est point avec de pareilles caricatures qu'on

parviendra à rétablir l'union parmi les Français." p.297.

[303] According to Père Daniel, the Ace or As is the Latin As,--a

piece of money, coin, riches; while Bullet derives it from the Celtic,

and says that it means origin, source, beginning, the first. A French

writer of the sixteenth century, supposed to be Charles Stephens, in

a work entitled 'Paradoxes,' printed at Paris in 1553, says that the

Ace, or "_Az_ ought to be called _Nars_, a word which, in German,

signifies a fool." The German word which he alludes to is _Narr_, which

is just as likely to have been the origin of Deuce as of Ace. It has

also been supposed that the term Ace has been derived from the Greek

word ὁνος, which, according to Julius Pollux, signified _One_ in the

Ionic dialect; but as the word ὁνος also signified an Ass, it has been

conjectured that the Ace of cards and dice was so called, not as a

designation of unity, but as signifying an Ass or a Fool. Those who

entertained the latter opinion are said by Hyde to be Asses themselves:

"Qui unitatem asinum dicunt errant, et ipsi sunt asini." (_De Ludis

Orient._ lib. ii.)--Leber, Etudes Historiques, pp. 39, 86.

[304] Brockett's Glossary of North Country Words.

[305] Singer's Researches, p. 271.

[306] Dr. Houstoun's Memoirs of his own Lifetime, p. 92. Edit. 1747.

[307] A writer of the age of Queen Elizabeth would appear to have

foreseen the great "Card Controversy," which within the last 150

years has occupied so many "learned pens:" "It shall be lawful for

coney-catchers to fall together by the ears, about the four Knaves

of Cards, which of them may claim superiority; and whether false

dice or true be of the most antiquity."--The Pennyless Parliament of

Thread-bare Poets.

[308] The French also call the Trump _Atou_,--"Coupez: Cœur est Atou."

Cut: Hearts are Trumps.

[309] "Triomphe: the card-game called Ruff, or Trump; also, the Ruff,

or Trump at it."--Cotgrave's French and English Dictionary.

[310] In 'The Toast,' a satirical poem written about 1730, by Dr.

William King, Principal of St. Mary's Hall, Oxford, Dr. Hort,

Archbishop of Tuam, is called Lord Pam. He is also called Pam by Swift.

[311]

"Discincta tunica fugiendum est;

Ne nummi pereant.

Deprendi miserum est."--HORAT.

[312] Pascasius Justus mentions in his Alca, first published in 1560,

that a certain merchant, having obtained from Charles V a monopoly

for ten years of the sale of cards in Spain, became extremely rich in

consequence of the great demand for them.

[313] Encyclopédie Méthodique, mot, Cartier. An account of the

subsequent legislation in France, with respect to cards, is to be found

in the 'Manuel du Cartonnier, et du Fabricant de Cartonnages,' pp.

224-37. Paris, 1830.