[24] “The word which has been translated _printed_ is ‘stampide’ (‘Carte e figure depinte e stampide’), and the question arises as to the meaning of that word in 1441. ‘Stampide,’ according to Florio, signifies ‘to print, to presse, to stampe, to form, to figure;’ and ‘stampe’ in like manner, besides a print or impression, is said to be ‘a marke, a shape, a figure.’ The word existed before printing, in its modern sense, had been heard of, and the natural application of it to the new art, does not in the least determine the question of when that art was invented. ‘Stampide’ in 1441, might simply mean formed, figured, or shaped, by the means of the stencil, a process which we know was adopted at that period, and which being much more rapid than drawing and coloring by hand, would doubtless affect very seriously the art of the card illuminator, similarly as photography, at the present day, has the art of the miniature painter.”--J. R. PLANCHÉ. _Builder_, Nov. 19, 1870. [25] This phrase seems specially to refer to the method of stencilling. [26] Equivalent to about £5 15_s._ sterling. [27] St. Louis of France, after his return from the Crusade, [A. D. 1254], interdicted the use of all playing cards throughout his dominions. They were also forbidden by the Council of Cologne in the year 1281. These prohibitions most probably arose from their being used for purposes of fortune-telling. [28] Gringonneur was paid for the cards drawn and painted for Charles VI in 1392, fifty-six sous of Paris, which is calculated to be about £7 1_s._ 8_d._ of our present money, and a single pack of “tarots,” admirably painted about 1415 by Marziano, Secretary to the Duke of Milan, cost the enormous sum of 1,500 golden crowns (about £625); but in 1454 a pack of cards intended for the Dauphin of France, cost only five sous of Tours, about 11_s._ or 12_s._--_The Arts in the Middle Ages_, by M. Paul LACROIX. [29] Several ancient specimens of Greek and Roman signets are still extant. The most remarkable of these is a brass sigillum of C. J. Cæcilius Hermias, in the Duke of Richmond’s collection. It was found near Rome, and is supposed to belong to the Fourth century. The characters are _reversed_, engraved in relief, the back metal being cut away to a considerable depth and left in a rough state. The inscription is surrounded with a border, as shewn below. +--------------+ | C I CAECILI | | HERMIAE. SN. | +--------------+