Playing cards.

by Roger Tilley

This beautifully illustrated history traces the design of playing cards from their origins to the present day. The author follows the changes and developments from the earliest cards in China, India, and Persia, to the beginning of the four-suited pack in fourteenth-century Italy. He then shows how the Germans used woodcuts to produce intricate designs which were superceded by the simpler designs of the French.

He describes how suit-signs evolved gradually from a variety of different symbols. As well as the usual type of pack, a wide variety of special packs—commemorative, instructive, humorous—from all over the world are discussed. The illustrations, many of which were specially photographed for this book, show cards from all over the world.

Genres: Nonfiction

97 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967