The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-08-07
FIRST PLAYING CARDS
They Seem to Have Sprung From
the Naibis of the Saracens.
INVENTION OF A VENETIAN.
Tho Evidence Appears to Prove That
Games With Cards Originated To-
ward the End Of the Fourteenth Cen
tury--The Cards OF Charles VI.

tury--The Csrds OF Charles W.
The earliest direct mention Of play
ing cards discovered so far is in tho
History Of the City of yiterbo," says
the New York Telegraph. The author
quotes Covelluzzo. who wrote about
the end Of the fifteenth century.
'1n the year Of 1879 was brought
into viterbo the game of cards. which
comes from the country of the Sara
Gems and is with them called naib."
1t Is worthy of remark that Covei-
luzzo did not write at that date he
mentioned. but century later. In
1850. and Il is quite possible that he
may have been mistaken In attribut-
Ing the cards to Saracenic origin or
may have simply been quoting a popu-
lar tradition. The Saracens were IA
milar with nalbis, the predecessor of
cards, but they did not invent the
game of cards, OF which naibls were
only part.
The earliest date about which there
can be no dispute at which playing
cards are directly mentioned by a
writer as matter of his personal ex-
perience is that discovered in the reg
lister of the court treasurer Of France,
In the reign of Charles vi. The entry
Is under the date Of Feb. /, 1892, as
follows:
"Given TO Jacquemin Grlngonneur,
painter, for three packs Of playing
cards. in gold and various colors and
ornamented with several devices, TO
carry before the lord our king for his
amusement SO soils of Paris"
This is the foundation upon which
Is based the popular notion that play
Ing cards were invented for the amuse-
ment Of crazy French king. Critics
have pointed out that the amount paid
| Is simply for the hand painting and
decoration of the cards. There is moth
ing IN the entry that gives ground for
supposing that the cards themselves
| were new.
There are on exhibition today at the
| National library in Paris what are
supposed to be seventeen Of these
cards that were painted for Charles
VI. aud this has strengthened the i'm
preston that they are the original
model from which all playing cards
have been copied. Unfortunately for
the fame of the exhibit. 1t has been
proved that the cards shown 10 Paris
are really very fine Venetian tarok
cards and are part of an edition made
at least as late as 1925.
During the twenty years that follow
this date of the royal treasurer's Q392)
literature is full of references to play
Ing cards. Almost every author that
mentions games of gambling parapher-
MALTA particularizes one or more games
of cards. But before that date no al
lusIon has been found TO a game that
could be construed as card game. al
though there are several writer's who
might reasonably be expected to men
ton cards il they were acquainted
with them.
Hugh Won Tymberg. who wrote in
the second half of the thirteenth and
the beginning of the fourteenth CEN
tury: petrarch, who wrote In the first
bali of the fourteenth century; Chau-
GER, who wrote IN the second half OF
the fourteenth century, made no men
tion of cards. although In the writings
of all of them there are references to
gambling tables and implements.
| In the Escurial library there is r
manuscript composed by order OF Don
Alphonso the Wise. dated 1921. which
gives the rules for a number of games.
especially chess aud dice, but does not
contain word about cards
But one naturally asks IL the earliest
mention OF cards is to be found In the
register of the royal treasurer of
France where did cards come from II
they we're not q new thing TO him?
To go back little. 1t Is well known
that there existed long before the date
OF any mention of playing cards Sc
ries of embematic pictures called
naibis. which were used by gypsies
and others for the purpose of fortune
| nrnha