Part 7

The Japanese call the cards which are now current in Japan by the name of _Karuta_, a word evidently derived from the Portuguese _carta_. Those commonly used by gamblers, a pack of which is exhibited by Mrs. J. K. Van Rensellaer, are called _Hana Karuta_, or “Flower cards,” and comprise forty-eight pieces, a number, it will be observed, identical with that of the present Spanish pack. They bear pictures, chiefly flowers, emblematic of the twelve months, four cards being placed under each. Their names are as follows: _Matsu_, “pine;” _Sakusa_, “cherries;” _Momidzi_, “maple;” _Butan_, “wild rose;” _Hagi_, Lespedeza; _Kiku_, “golden-colored daisy;” _Kiri_, Paulonia; _Fudzi_, Wisteria; _Soba_, “tiger lily;” _Ume_, “plum-tree;” _Yama_, “mountain;” and _Ame_, “rain.”

The _Iroha_, or Proverb cards, also consist of ninety-six cards, half of which bear a picture and one of the forty-seven characters of the _Iroha_, or Japanese syllabary. Each of the other cards is inscribed with a proverb, the first word of which is written with one of the characters. There are several methods of play, the commonest being that of laying out all the picture cards face up. One of the older players reads the proverbs in turn, while the others endeavor to select the card from the table bearing the corresponding initial character. The _Uta Karuta_, or “Cards with songs,” contain, according to Mr. Karl Himly, the well-known one hundred songs (_Hiyaku nin issiu_, 1235 A. D.), or the poems of the “Old and New Collection” (_Ho kin schiu_, 905 A. D.). The picture cards have the pictures of the poet or poetess, with the commencement of the poems. The rest is on the corresponding cards. The game is the same as that played with the _Iroha Karuta_.

CASE VIII. AMERICAN BOARD GAMES PLAYED WITH DICE.

The first of American board games played with dice is said to be the “Mansion of Happiness.” This game is said to have been published in 1852, and copied from an English game. Thirty-three specimens of similar games published in this country are exhibited. They form a small part, however, of the entire number.

CASE IX. TAROTS, TAROCCHINO, AND MINCHIATE. TYPES OF ITALIAN CARDS. MANUFACTURE OF PLAYING CARDS.

The question of the origin of playing cards in Europe, whether they were introduced from the East, or an independent invention in France, Italy, or Germany, has been the object of much discussion. It may be regarded as conclusively settled that playing cards were invented in China in the twelfth century, and in view of the remarkable similarities between the card and card games of China and those of Europe which have been brought to light by Mr. Wilkinson, it may be profitable to suspend further consideration of the matter until the results of his studies are made public. Italy appears to be the oldest home of the playing card in Europe, and the earliest Italian packs are said to be those which the Italians call Tarocchi. Several types of these cards are found in Italy. According to Willshire these games are known as the _Tarots_ of Venice or Lombardy, the _Tarocchino_ of Bologna, and the _Minchiate_ of Florence. The first of these, the old Venetian Tarot, he regards as the parent of all. The sequence consists of 78 cards, _i. e._, of 22 emblematic cards of Tarots proper, and 56 numeral cards made up of 16 figures or court cards, and 40 pip cards. The 22 Tarot cards bear emblematic designs which appear to be borrowed from a series of prints which are known to collectors as the _Tarocchi_ of Mantegna or the _Carte di Baldini_. The emblematic cards in the Venetian series usually bear the following inscriptions: 1. La Bagattel. 2. La Papessa. 3. L’Imperatrice. 4. L’Imperatore. 5. Il Papa. 6. Gli Amanti. 7. Il Carro. 8. La Guistizia. 9. L’Eremita. 10. Ruot. della For. 11. La Forza. 12. L’Appeso. 13. . 14. La Temperan. 15. Il Diavolo. 16. La Torre. 17. Le Stelle. 18. La Luna. 19. Il Sole. 20. Il Giudizio. 21. Il Mondo. 22. Il Matto.

No name is placed upon the 13th, which usually bears a skeleton with a scythe, representing “death.”

The second game, the _Tarocchino_ of Bologna, though a direct descendant of the ancient Venetian tarots, is not so old as the third game, or _Minchiate_ of Florence. The chief characteristic of the _Tarocchino_, its name a diminutive of _tarocchi_, is the suppression in it of the 2, 3, 4, and 5 of each numeral suit, thus reducing the numeral cards from 56 to 40. This modification of the tarot game was invented in Bologna, early in the fifteenth century, by Francesco Fibbia, Prince of Pisa, an exile in that city, dying there in 1419.

The third game is the _Minchiate_ of Florence. It is more complicated than the Venetian game, twenty additional cards being added to the emblematic series. A pack of modern Venetian tarot made in Milan, which are remarkable for their beautifully engraved and painted designs, a pack of modern _Tarocchino_ from Bologna, and a pack of seventeenth century _Minchiate_, are displayed in the south side of this case. All of these cards are in current use in different parts of Italy.

The suit marks of Italian cards consist of money, cups, swords, and clubs, called _danari_, _coppe_, _spade_, and _bastoni_. The four court cards of the numeral suits are known respectively as _Re_, King, _Regina_ or _Reina_, Queen, _Cavallo_, Knight, and _Fante_, Knave. The regular cards, as opposed to those which include the emblematic series, are distinguished by certain peculiarities in the designs of the court cards in different parts of Italy. The distinctive cards of Florence, Milan, and Naples are exhibited in this case, together with several interesting packs upon which all the designs, except an indication of the value at the top, have given place to texts designed to afford instruction in history, geography, etc. A remarkable pack of this character, exhibited by Dr. G. Brown Goode, of Washington, is in manuscript and is intended to teach geography.

According to Chatto, on the earliest cards he had ever seen the figures had been executed by means of stencils, this being the case both in the cards of 1440 and those known as the Stukely cards. There are exhibited in this case the stencils, brush, and unfinished card sheets from a card maker in Florence, who still practises this ancient method of manufacture. The cards on the south side of this case, which in common with all others not specially mentioned are exhibited by the University of Pennsylvania, represent the cards made at the present day in no less than eighteen Italian cities by some twenty-nine makers. They were collected for the University Museum by Mr. Francis C. Macauley of Florence. The cards of Florence, Bologna, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Ferrara, Padua, Treviso, Udine, Novara, Turin, Sesia, Bergamo, Brescia, Genoa, Perugia, Naples, and Bari are included in the collection, in which an opportunity is afforded to observe the peculiarities of the cards of the different Italian cities. A distinctive character of the marks of the numeral suits of _spade_ and _bastoni_ is the mode in which they are interlaced or connected together in place of standing separately or apart. It is interesting to note that in the cards made in and for southern Italy this peculiarity does not exist, they being almost identical with the cards made in Spain.

The cards of Austria succeed those of Italy. The pack exhibited from Trent is like those of Italy, but the distinctively German cards predominate among those made in Vienna and the northern cities.

The suit marks of old German cards consist of hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns, which they call respectively _Herzen_ (_roth_), _Schellen_, _Laub_ (_grün_), and _Eicheln_. The court cards of the German pack are usually three in number, the peculiarity of the true German pack being that the queen is omitted and an upper valet or _Obermann_ put in her place. They consist of the _König_ or “King,” the _Obermann_, and the _Untermann_.

Tarocchi cards are found in Germany under the name of _Taroks_, and a number of Tarok packs manufactured in Austria appear in this collection. Special names appear on their labels, as _Trieste Tarok_, _Kaffee Tarok_, etc., and the tarots proper bear a variety of emblems and designs different from those of Italy. They are usually numbered at top and bottom with Roman numerals from I. to XXI.

Willshire has pointed out that the Italians early suppressed the emblematic cards in a game which was termed _Trappola_, in which the true tarots were abolished, as likewise the three, four, five, and six of each numeral suit. This game, he states, was still in vogue in Silesia when Breitkopf wrote (1784). An interesting Austrian pack of this character is shown under the name of _Trappolier Spiel_, in which the shape as well as the suit marks of the Italian tarots are displayed.

The German cards manufactured in Germany are prefaced by a series of reprints of German cards of the last century exhibited by Mr. Macauley. They were obtained by him through the courtesy of the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, for which they were made from the original blocks of the old Munich card makers that have been conserved in the Museum.

CASE XI. GERMAN CARDS (CONTINUED), SWISS, DANISH, SWEDISH, AND RUSSIAN CARDS. SPANISH, MEXICAN, AND APACHE CARDS.

The collection of cards made in Germany comprises 53 packs, consisting chiefly of the current cards manufactured by card makers in Munich, Altenburg, Frankfort a. M., Berlin, Leipzig, and Breslau. Among these is an extremely beautiful pack by B. Dondorf of Frankfort, with pictures suggesting the four quarters of the globe, after designs by Haussmann. Toy cards, patience cards, comic cards, trick cards, and cards which are labelled “Gaigel cards” appear, as well as cards made for special games, as the _Hexen_ or “witch” packs. Many of the cards manufactured in Germany are seen to bear the French suit marks of _Cœurs_, _Carreaux_, _Piques_, and _Trèfles_, or “hearts,” “diamonds,” “spades,” and “clubs,” instead of the old German suit marks, and the court cards correspond at the same time with those of France and England. There are a number of packs with French suit marks, which bear pictures of Swiss scenery and costumes. The cards made in Switzerland are from Schaffhausen and Geneva, and comprise a variety of designs, including those which are especially designated as Swiss cards, German cards, and German Taroks. Belgium is represented by a German tarot pack, and imitations of English cards made for Oriental markets. Three packs of this character are shown, which were sent from Johore, in the Malay Peninsula, with another pack from Beirut, in Syria. The Russian cards in the collection, contributed by Madame Semetchkin, the representative on the Russian Commission of the “Institutions of the Empress Marie,” are similar to modern French cards. The manufacture of playing cards in Russia is a monopoly of the state, and the revenues accruing are devoted to the support of the great charitable institution of which Madame Semetchkin is the distinguished representative.

Tarots or Tarocchi cards are not used in Spain, nor are they found among Spanish cards. The regulation Spanish pack now consists of 48 cards of four suits, called respectively _Dineros_, “money,” _Copas_, “cups,” _Bastos_, “clubs,” and _Espadas_, “swords.” The numerals run from one to nine, the ten being replaced with the _Caballo_. The court cards comprise the _Sota_, or “knave,” the _Caballo_, or “knight,” and the _Rey_, or “king.” Cards manufactured at Vitoria, Burgos, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Cadiz, and Palamos are displayed. Great antiquity has been claimed for cards in Spain, and it has been urged that this is the country through which Europe received cards from the East, but heretofore no Spanish cards of assured date earlier than 1600 have been known, and material evidence has been lacking. There was exhibited at the Columbian Historical Exposition in Madrid in 1892–93, a sheet of cards made in Mexico in 1583, which has been preserved in the Archives of the Indies at Seville, Spain, and which throw light upon the origin of Spanish cards. A copy made in water-colors by an artist in Madrid is shown in this collection. The original consists of an uncut sheet of about 11 by 17 inches, and bears on the back a pen and ink inscription with the date 1583. The face displays an impression from a wooden block of 24 cards each 2 by 3½ inches. They are colored in red, blue, and black, and represent the court cards and aces of the suits of money, cups, clubs, and swords, and ten numeral or pip cards of the suit of swords. There are but three court cards for each suit, instead of four as in the present Spanish pack. The marks of the numeral suit consist of crossed swords, instead of being arranged as on the Spanish cards now current, and strongly point to the Italian affinities of early Spanish cards.

Side by side with this early Mexican pack is a colored plate representing leather cards made by the Indians of South America, and an original pack of leather cards used by the Apaches. From the arrangement of the swords on both of these sets, which were copied from cards introduced by the Spaniards, it appears that they were initiated from the present type of Spanish cards. Such is not the case with the corresponding marks on a pack of native cards from the Celebes, which are also exhibited. Their Spanish origin is clearly indicated by their number, 48, and by the devices, which still bear a faint resemblance to those of Europe. The clubs and swords on both are represented by crossed lines which confirm the impression created by the Mexican pack. The Japanese “Hana Karuta,” or “Flower Cards,” are also shown here, as another pack of Oriental cards derived from those of Spain or Portugal. Their number, 48, and their name, _karuta_, from the Portuguese _carta_, clearly suggests their origin.

CASE XII. FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND AMERICAN PLAYING CARDS. FORTUNE-TELLING CARDS, DR. BUZBY, AUTHORS, AND MISCELLANEOUS CARD GAMES.

Tarocchi cards are called Tarots in France, and the French tarot pack is similar to the Venetian. The earliest specimens of French Tarots exhibited bear the name of Claude Burdel and the date 1751. There is direct historic proof that France possessed cards at a very early time in the accounts of the Treasurer of Charles VI., A. D. 1392. The earliest pack of French cards in this collection is one of which I have not been able to determine the date. It bears the name Pierre Montalan on the Knave of Spades and Claude Valentin on the Knave of Clubs. A variety of modern French packs are shown, including those made with Spanish suit marks and special cards for various games. The French suit marks reappear on English cards, and according to Willshire it is most probable that cards made their way into England through France. He states that the time is not known, but that we are safe in believing that cards were not in use in England until after the reign of Henry IV. (1405), and that they were certainly employed before 1463. The English cards here displayed consist entirely of those of the present day, but this deficiency in historical packs is compensated for in part by Lady Charlotte Schreiber’s folio volume on English and Scottish, Dutch and Flemish cards which she has loaned for this collection. The great work, of which this is but the first volume, contains fac-similes of the cards in Lady Charlotte Schreiber’s private collection, and reveals the wealth of historical suggestions to be found upon playing cards, and their value, as thus collected, to the antiquary and historian.

America early received playing cards from Spain, and Spanish cards are still made and imported into Spanish American countries. In the United States English cards were naturally adopted. No very early packs are shown, but some interesting cards are found in the North American series, including a variety of cards with patriotic emblems of the time of the Rebellion, as well as caricature cards of the recent political campaigns. The collection closes with the souvenir packs of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Mrs. J. K. Van Rensellaer’s work, entitled “The Devil’s Picture Books,” a copy of which is exhibited, contains many interesting particulars concerning cards and card playing in America. Several interesting card boxes are shown in this collection, with specimens of the old-fashioned “fish” or card counters of mother-of-pearl, among which are some that belonged to Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution. Treatises on American card games, exhibited by Messrs. Dick & Fitzgerald, conclude the series of playing cards proper.

Among the notions concerning the origin of cards in Europe is one that they were first introduced by the gypsies, who used them in fortune-telling. It appears that they were early used for divinatory purposes in Europe, but according to Willshire their employment in fortune-telling gradually declined among the upper classes until the middle of the eighteenth century, “though it was prevalent, no doubt, among the lower grades of society frequenting fairs and the caravans of mountebanks. About 1750 divination through cards again became popular in Paris, at least, for in 1751, 1752, and 1753 three persons were publicly known as offering their services for this intention.” According to certain writers, the emblematic figures of the tarot cards are of very remote origin, stretching back as far as the ancient Egyptians, from whom they have descended to us as a book or series of subjects of deep symbolic meaning. The discovery and explication of the meaning of the tarots employed in modern times was claimed by M. Count de Goebelin in 1781, who in his “Monde Primitif analysé et compare avec le Monde Moderne,” gave a dissertation on the game of Tarots, in which he states that the tarot pack is evidently based on the sacred Egyptian number seven, and reviews the tarot emblems in detail.

The probable origin of the 21 tarot cards has already been suggested in connection with Chinese cards, and it is not surprising that the astrological notions associated with Tarots should find parallels in the speculations of the Kabbalists, who attached similar notions to the dice throws as are now found associated with them in China, from whence the 21 Tarot cards doubtless came to Europe. An explanation is therefore found for some of the resemblances upon which M. de Goebelin lays such stress. His fancies, however, never subjected to very severe examination or criticism, were seized upon by a perruquier of Paris of the name of Alliette, who combined with his ordinary occupation the practice of cartomancy. He read the dissertation of Count de Goebelin, and, thereby enlightened, changed the letters of his name and prophesied under the name of Ettillia. His writings furnish the basis of most of the treatises now extant upon the subject of fortune-telling with cards, and his name is found associated with several of the modern French tarot packs published especially for fortune-telling, in the present collection. During the exciting periods of the first Consulship of Napoleon I., there lived, according to Mr. Willshire, a well-known diviner named Madame Lenormand, whose predictions gained great repute. Her name, with that of Ettillia, appears on the French cards here exhibited, as well as on those made in America. Several French and German fortune-telling packs of an amusing character are to be found in the present collection, as well as others published in the United States, which are designed solely for purposes of amusement.

The entire northern side of this case is devoted to the card games other than regular playing cards, which owe their existence to the prejudice against cards or to the demand for simple and instructive amusements for children and young people. Mr. Milton Bradley has contributed some interesting notes on the history of such games in this country. In 1843 Miss Annie W. Abbott, a clergyman’s daughter of Beverly, Mass., offered to Mr. Ives, a publisher of Salem, Mass., a card game which she called “Dr. Buzby.” This game, which was the first of its kind, was reluctantly published by Mr. Ives and met with an astonishing success, no less than 50,000 copies being sold in the following year. It will be remembered by many of the parents of the present day as among the earliest games ever learned and possibly played upon the sly through fear of reprimand. A pack of the original Dr. Buzby cards will be found at the beginning of this collection. The game of “Authors” was originated by a young man living in Salem, helped by some of his female acquaintances. The method of play was copied from “Dr. Buzby,” but it contained an element of instruction and profit not found in the older game. He took it to a local publisher to see if he could have ten or a dozen packs printed, as it was too much work for him to print them. Mr. Smith, the publisher, saw the possibilities of the game and told him if he would let him make them, he would supply his needs gratis, to which he consented. This was in 1861, and the sale of this game has since been wonderful. Many modifications and improvements of the original game are shown in the collection.

Soon after the publication of “Dr. Buzby,” a teacher in a young ladies’ school in Salem devised a game of letters which has since become popular under the various names of “Spelling Puzzle,” “Word Making and Word Taking,” “War of Words,” “Anagrams,” “Logomachy,” “Words and Sentences,” etc. The publications of the Milton Bradley Company, McLaughlin Bros., and E. I. Horsman are here exhibited, and no less than 78 different card games are displayed. They are classified in groups according to the methods of play, which, in spite of the ingenuity displayed in the designs of the cards, are relatively very limited in number, the ideas in the main being derived from games already played with regular playing cards.

The collection has received many additions since its installation, notably a very complete series of Zuñi games from Mr. Cushing, and a series of Malayan and Chinese games from H. H. the Sultan of Johore, through Mr. Rouncesvelle Wildman, as well as an extremely important collection of East Indian games from the Provincial Museum, Lucknow, and of Burmese games collected by Mr. C. S. Bayne, Rangoon, both through the courtesy of the Honorable Charles H. T. Crosthwaite.

_Stewart Culin._

NOTES AND QUERIES.