IMPROVENÉNTS IN PLAYING CARDS
Year: 1870

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by Robert Chanony at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration, on
the 11th February 1870, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
CHANONY; of No. 10, Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau, Paris, in the Empire
of France, Gentleman, send greeting.
421
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVENÉNTS
IN PLAYING CARDS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me
my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Pǎtent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I verily believe
myself to be the first and true Inventor thereof.
_NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Chanony, do-hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,

page_text: fully describes and ascertains the nature of-my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed:-
Playing cards when first introduced were made with figures with one
head, they were afterwards modified by making the figures with two
heads instead of one, this alteration was adopted and remains in use on
account of its utility, notwithstanding the bad effect of the portraits with
two heads. .
Since the introduction of playing cards many attempts have been
made to improve them, but the various alterations made. have been so
badly selected that notwithstanding the deformity of the cards with
two heads, and their conventional figures associated with person-
ages of several ages past, use and habit have retained them without
alteration.
Now my improvements consist in symbolizing all the cards of the
pack, for example, by substituting for the kings the sceptré or arms of
a given country, the queens by the imperial, royal, grand ducal, or other
crown, the knaves by a branch or a crown of laurel, the aces by one or
several of the signs denoting pieces of coin, diamonds by a crossbow,
clubs by one or several plants of the trefoil species, spades by a bundle
of-pikes surmounted by an axe, and hearts by a lion. The object of this
improvement is to suggest the idea expressed by cach kind of card,
videlicet, queens, kings, kuaves, aces, diamonds, spades, hearts, and clubs,
by recalling as much as possible the signification of the primitive devico
implied thereby in the present pack of cards. The middle of the cards'
being taken up by the symbols herein-before described or by equivalent
symbols, according to choice, it is necessary 'that the player should
be enabled to sco at first glance the cards he has in his hand, for this
purpose I place at the two opposite corners of the card, or, if desired, at
the four corners of each of the cards, the representation in small size of
the present playing cards, either of the court cards, the aces, or the cards;
with points, so that the corners of my improved cards will represent
the whole of the present pack. This combination will have the effect
of facilitating the handling of the cards and insure the play of cach
player not being shown. Many attempts have been made to enable the
player to see the cards he has in his hand without spreading them out, :
but they have failed, none of them having offered any real advantage to
the player, the corners or the edges of the cards have been marked by
signs, figures, and writing; circular, elliptical, hexagonal, and other
:

page_text: shaped cards have been made, but these alterations have only served to
confuse the player instead of assisting him, my improvement in repeating
at two or at the four corners of the cards a representation of the cards
at present in use reduced to a small scale will have the advantage of not
confusing the player, and will not affect his custom of fixing his attention
at first sufficiently to impress on his memory the cards in his hand,
which cannot be done with figures, marks, or writing.
For such purpose this improvement is also applicable to playing cards
now in use without changing their device. Instead of suggesting the
idea represented by the figures of the old pack of cards, viz., queens, kings,
and knaves by the symbols herein-before described, I can represent
the kings and queens by portraits of members of the reigning family, and
the knaves by illustrious men of each country; by this means I can
represent at will the dynasties of all countries, and compose with each
of them a special pack of cards which I call the "dynastic and symbolical
pack of cards." As there are countries which are governed by institutions
which admit of no sovereign, I substitute in this case for the portraits of
the reigning families, as herein-before described, portraits of members of
the government. I can also compose for each country a special pack of
cards entirely symbolical, as herein-before described, illustrating it by
suitable national emblems. The reduced figures of the present pack of
cards placed as a sign of distinction in the corners of the cards, for the
kings and queens can be replaced by portraits in small size of the
members of cach dynasty, and for the knaves by portraits of the
illustrious men of each country, surmounting them with a symbol
denoting the value of king, queen, or knave. To further symbolize the
ordinary pack of cards, the points of the cards of my pack are made in
four colors instead of two, so that, for example, I can make the clubs
green, spades black, hearts red, and diamonds wood color or yellow.
Having now described my Invention, what I claim is,—
Firstly. The combinations herein-before described to form a pack of
cards in which the idea expressed by the present pack of cards is
..
T

page_text: Thirdly. Combining the figures of the present pack of cards cither
wholly or partly with my herein-before described improvements.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Chanony, have hereto set
my hand and scal, this Fifth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy.
ATT ANV