Chapter IV (3)

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."

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.