The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-03-07
Playing Cards.

Few who sit down to 4 pleasan
game at whist or piquet have an,
idea how many centuries thes painte,
bits Of card have furnished amuse
ment to the human race. Far ava,
into the times OF unwritten historl
the Chinese, Hindus, and Arabs werl
making their different combination
OF warlike games, bearing many re
latiOns to its sister, chess. On thir
slips OF ivory, mOther-Of-pearl, ol
wood, the devices were painted fol
the hands of Oriental despOts; no les.
than eight armies and eight player.
struggled for the victory, under the
/ command of king, yizier, and an el-
I ephant. China seems to have been
I the home OF their invention; from
thence they passed on to India about
ll2O, and were soon adopted by the
Arabs. The Crusaders in their turn
learned the game of their foes, and
from the number of DEGREES forbid
ding 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 Nicolas de COvel-
luZzO, native of ViterbO, which saws:
sin 1870 the game of cards was intro
duced into ViterbO, from the land of the
Saracens, and which is called them
Hdib."
Nor can We suppose, with some
learned critics, that cards were but
the amusement of children. st.
Bernard, of Sienna and st. Anthony
OF Florence would scarcely have used
such strong language against their
use had 1t been so. On the 5th day
OF May, 1872, the former standing on
the steps of the Church of st. Peto-
MUS, spoke to an immense crowd
assembled around him, poured forth
his fulminatiOns against games of
chance, and exercised so much power
over his audience that every one ran
to fetch his cards, dice and chess, and
having brought. them to this public
place, burned them with his own
hand, in the presence OF the chief of
the Republic. This terrible dlEtO-dd-
Je brought a card maker who was ru-
ined by st. Bernard's sermon, to the
holy man saying with tears: Father,
am a manufacturer Of cards; I have
no other trade by which 1 can live.
By hindering me from doing my
work, you condemn me to die of hum
ger" "If you know how to paint,n -
was the reply, '.eopy this image.D
And he showed him sun surround
ed by rays of glory, in the center of
which was the Monogram Of Christi.
II: 3. The eaTd-maker followed his
advice, and soon enriched himself by
his painting, which st. Bernard adopt
ed for his symbO.
The first printed cards probably
came from Germany. A pack of these
are still in existence, engraved with !
the burin, which are supposed to be
the work of Finiguerra or Maiftegna, |
and at any rate long to this period Of |
Italian art. The design Is at once
simple and good in outline, the en-
craving fine and harmonious; they are 1
divided into five series, each of ten |
,ards, and bear they names of the
muses., the science, the heavenly bod
Sc and the virtues. The sO-called /
ards of Charles vi, of France which |
lOW In the Bibltheque du ROi, in Par
5, are probably the most ancient Of
my that are preserved in the various
public collections of Europe. There
Ire about seventeen painted with all
he delicacy of the miniature in the
Illuminated manuscripts of the peri
I'd, on a gold ground, and surround
ID by a silver border, in which is a
ibbOn rOl6ed spirRlly round, done in
,OinGs. There is the Emperor in q
liver amar, q diadem of 1eurs-de-Iis
N his head, and holding a globe and
seepter; the Pope with his triple
rown, the Gospels, and keys of st.
'eter in his hands, and sealed be-
ween two cardinals; the crescent
noon rises above two astrOlOgers in
Ong furred robes, who are measuring
he conjunctiOns of the planets with
; the fool wearing a cap
gith asses ears, and deep pointed
uff round. his neck; while four children
re throwing stones at him: Death
aOunted on a white horse, is throw
1g down kiugs, pOpes, and bishops
he House Of God seems half devOur-
- a. ssaaa and -fuallU the last
heir tOmO5 to the sound OF trumpets,
As time passed on the figures on
he cards changed with the costumes
f the time, according to the capriees
f the court or the imagina-
ion of the maker. The pointed
'eard, heavy collar and plumed hat
ppeared as the dress of the kings
ne hair turned back and erimped,
he lace collar, and the farthingale as
hat of the queens.
As regards England, though it re-
eived the game from a very early
'eriOd through the game it carried on
With the Hanseatie and Dutch towns,
-et il does not appear that any cards !
we're manufactured there before the
nd of the sixteenth century, since
Inder the rein of Elizabeth the gov
rnment reserved to itself the mo-
lOpoly of playing cards imported
rom abroad. The oldest which are
.nown, and which closely resemble
he early Italian packs, were discOv-
red by DIR. Stuekely in the binding
f book. They mark a very early
,eriod, when the arts of engraving,
and printing were in their