Category: History - Other
The “Devil’s Books” was the name bestowed upon Playing-cards by the Puritans and other pious souls who were probably in hopes that this name would alarm timid persons and so prevent their use. Whether or not his Satanic Majesty originated Playing-cards, we have no means of dis...
The “Devil’s Books” was the name bestowed upon Playing-cards by the Puritans and other pious souls who were probably in hopes that this name would alarm timid persons and so pre...
2. Part 2The author of “Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum,” Mr. W. H. Wiltshire, derides the idea that cards derive their origin from the chessmen, and points out the fact th...
3. Part 3Although parts of packs which from the devices they bear may have been imported from Germany or Spain, and which seem to have been well used, are preserved in the British Museum...
4. Part 4Unfortunately for this argument, it has been discovered that cards were called _Karten_ in Germany before they were called _Briefe_. It may be claimed that cards were carried in...
5. Part 5Mr. Singer, quoting from another author, says that “there is little doubt but that the cards used during the reign of Philip and Mary and probably the more early part of Elizabe...
6. Part 6A complete set of Haida gambling-sticks is also to be found in the National Museum; and casts of the carvings have been carefully taken on plaster, which displays the shape of t...
7. Part 7Previous to the arrangement of the Tarot cards into the more convenient pack which is now generally used, the female figure was placed in that part of the pack which was divided...
8. Part 8“When I see an Ace, may it please your Honour, it reminds me that there is only one God; and when I look upon a two or a three, the former puts me in mind of the Father and Son,...