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PLAYING CARDS.
FACTS AND SPECULATIONS
ON THE
ORIGIN AND HISTORY
OF
PLAYING CARDS.
BY
WILLIAM ANDREW CHATTO.
Hæc mihi charta nuces, hæc est mihi charta fritillus.—Martial.
LONDON:
JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,
OLD COMPTON STREET, SOHO SQUARE.
MDCCCXLVIII.
PRINTED BY C. AND J. ADLARD, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.
PREFACE.
Should a person who has never bestowed a thought onthe subject ask, "What can there be that is interestingin the History of Cards?" it is answered, "There may bemuch." There is an interest, of a certain kind, even in thesolution of a riddle, or the explication of a conundrum; andcertain learned men, such as Père Daniel, and Court deGebelin, having assumed that the game of Cards was originallyinstructive, and that the figures and marks of thesuits are emblematic, speaking to the intelligent ofmatters of great import, their amusingly absurd speculationson the subject—set forth with all the gravity of a"budge doctor" determining ex cathedra—impart to theHistory of Cards an interest which, intrinsically, it doesnot possess. But putting aside all that may relate to theircovert meaning, cards, considered with respect to whatthey simply are—the instruments of a popular game, andthe productions of art—suggest several questions, the investigationof which is not without interest: Where andwhen were they invented, and what is the origin of theirnames? When were they introduced into Europe? Whathas been their progress as a popular game; and whatinfluence have they had on society? What changes havethey undergone with respect to the figures and the marksof the suits; and to what purposes have picture and fancycards been made subservient, in consequence of those incommon use being so generally understood? And lastly,what have been the opinions of moralists and theologians[Pg vi]with respect to the lawfulness of the game?—Such arethe topics discussed, and questions examined, in thefollowing pages.
Of the works of previous writers on the origin of CardsI have freely availed myself; using them as guides whenI thought them right, pointing out their errors whenI thought them wrong, and allowi