The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1871-11-10
PLAYING CARDS.

game at Whist or piquet have any idea
how many centuries these painted bits
of cards have furnished amusement tC
/ the human race. Far away into the
times of unwIitten history, the Chi
I nese, Hindus and Arabs We're making
their different combinations of a war
| like game, bearing many relations 20
Its sister, chess. On thin slips of ivory,
mother-of-pearl, or wood, the devices
were painted for the hands of oriental
despots, no less than eight armies and
eight players struggled foT the victory
under the command of a King, a viZieT
and an elephant. China seems to
have been the home of their invention:
from thence they passed on to India,
about l12O, and Were soon adopted by
the Arabs. Our Crusaders in their
turn learned the game of their foes,
and from the number of DEGREES for
bidding their use issued by the Church,
we may believe that they were soon
spread all over Europe. The first au-
thentic mention that occurs of them
Is In Chronicle of Nicholas de CoVei-
luZzo, Native of Viterbo, which saws:
- In 1879 the game of cards was intro
duced at ViterbO, from the land of the
Saracens, and which is called by them
8Gi6." We hear of them in BnrgOs i'm
1887, in Paris in 1892, in Ulm in 1907,
keeping the root of their Arab name,
as they are still called in Spain names,
naib in Arabic meaning captain or
lieutenant. Italy soon adopted the
title OF t9rOts or taTOcchi, owing to
the back of the card being tarote, OF
covered with little points or divisions.
invented to prevent the kBaves mark
ing the cards, and cheating at the
game. From the fourteenth century we
find them spread all over Europe
they are mentioned in the lists OF
plate and jewelry belonging to mon
archs and MOBILES; councils aud synOds
condemned and f, rbade them, as well
as royal proclamation. In the nina
lures OF manuscripts, in the early at
tempts at engraVingOn wood and cop
per, we see the game portrayed; poets,
romance writers and travelling story
tellers do not forget them in their wri>
tings; and fragile as were the cards
themselves, three are some painted
and engraved which belong to the
fifteenth century still in existence.
a fresco at Bologna, painted in 40,
represents four Soldiers playing af
cards, done by Francesco Fibbia; and
the year after we find the celebrated
card-makers OF Venice complaining
Ithat the trade was departing out
of their hands, in consequence Of the
great number of playiDg-cards with
painted and printed figures which
were introduced from other coun-
| tries, and praying the Senate to Law
tax on these foreign productions,
whether printed on linen or paner, II
may be well TO remark that here we
have the first mention OF printed
| cards, tUhtch probably came from Ger
many. a pack of these are still in
| existence engraved with the BURN,
which are supposed to be the work OF
| tiniguerra or AIantegDa, and at any
| rate belong to this period of Italian
| art. 1t seems probable that they are
/ made at Padua or Florence, and are
limitations of the earliest italian
| tsrOcchi, which vary somewhat from
the cards now in use. The design i
| at once simple and good in outline,
| the engraving fine and harmonious:
| they are divided into five series, each
of ten cards, and bear the names Of
the muses., the sciences, the heavenly
| bodies and the virtues. The so called
cards of Charles VI OF France, which
are now in the Bibliotheque du Rio iB
| Paris, are probably the most ancient
| of any that aTe preserved in the
various public collections of Europe
| There are but seventeen, painted with
all thedelicacy of the miniatures in the
! illuminated manuscripts of the period,
! on gold ground, and surrounded by
a silver border, in which is q ribbon
rolled spirally round done in points
| 1t is to this that the cards owe their
Eame Of tarOts, being marked, as we
often see them in the present day,
when the back is covered with ara
| besques.
1t will be readily believed that such
works of art as the early packs of
cards were not accessible to the multi
| tude, but " ere very costly and only
| fit for kings and MOBILES. In an old
| accOunt-boOk of the mOnarchs of
| France we find the treasurer paid in
/ 1892, about GS of our present money
/ for three packs and a single pack, ex-
/ quisitely painted by Mariana, secre-
/ taTy to the Duke of Milan, cost a few
years later, 800 gold crowns. But as
| the more economical way of printing
and engraving came into use, both of
which arts were known long before
printing with movable types, the
price Of these coveted articles fell rap
| Idly, and in 1854, a pack bought for
/ the Dluphin cost no more than los.
| AS time passed on, the figures on the
cards changed with the costume Ofthe
time. according to the caprices of the
court or the imagination Of the maker
The pointed beard, heavy collar
and plumed hat appeared as the dress
OF the kings; the hair turned back
and cTimped, the lace collar and the
farthing9le, as that Of the Queen.
Oae ola pauk represents the four great
mOnarchies Jewish, Greek, Roman
and French, under the King5 David,
Alexander, Cesar, aud Chariemague !;
while the queens symbolic the man
ner Of reiguing- iy piety /;
Rachel, by beauty; Pallas, by wis
dom Argine, which is the auagTam
OF Regina, by heirship; and the
knaYes of the four ages of chivalTy-
Hector the valiant Trojan chief; AgieT,
a palsdin Of ChaTlemagne; LancelOt,
one of tho twelve knights OF Arthur's
Round Table; and Lahire, the bold
captain OF Charles VII The ace has
borne many different interpretations
some imagined it TO be the symbol of
money for the payment OF the troops,
and derived it from the old Roman
colo, giving it a power superior even
To a king. others saw in il the first of
the lower ten cards, and explained the
names as coming from the Celtic as,
signifyiDg first or chief.
! As regards England, though it re-
/ cejved the game from very early pe.
riOd through the trade it carried on
with the Hanseatic and Dutch towns,
yet it does not appear that any cards
were manufactured here before the
end Of the sixteenth centur', since
under the reign Of Elizabeth the gov
eminent reserved To itself the mOnop-
! oily Of playing-cards imported from
abroad. The oldest which are known,
aud which closely approach the Italian
packs, were discovered by DIR. Stukely
In the biBdipg Of book. Unhappily
the originals hive been destroyed;
but correct drawings made at the time
are in the possession Of the Society Of
+ 4Autiquaries, aud have been repro
duced in Singers work ou the subject.