17. _Le Jugement dernier_--The last Judgment. [Illustration: Old Painted Cards ascribed to Gringonneur.--'La Justice.' (p. 198)] [Illustration: Old Painted Cards ascribed to Gringonneur.--'La Lune.' (p. 198.)] These seventeen subjects, engraved in lithography, and carefully coloured by hand after the original drawings, are given in the 'Jeux de Cartes Tarots et de Cartes Numérales,' published by the Society of Bibliophiles Français, 1844. The two annexed cuts will afford some idea of the style of the drawing, and of the manner in which the ornaments are pricked into the gold ground. They are of the same size as the originals; the one is that named Justice, No. 9, and the other that named La Lune, No. 10, in the preceding enumeration. It may be here observed that the latter is totally different from that named LUNA XXXXI, in the series of old Italian engravings, with which it is supposed by Mons. Duchesne to correspond: the only figure common to both is that of a crescent moon. The drawing indeed seems to be an emblem of Astrology, which, in the Italian engravings, is represented by a winged female figure, having on her head a crown of stars, and holding in her left hand a book, and in her right a divining rod. The complete series of old Italian engravings, known to collectors of prints by the name of Tarocchi cards, consists of fifty pieces, divided into five classes distinguished by the first five letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, D, E, but numbered consecutively from 1 to 50, commencing with the class marked E. At the foot of each subject is engraved its name; together with the letter of its class, and its number, which is given both in Roman and Arabic numerals,--the Roman being placed immediately after the name, and the Arabic on the extreme right. The distinctive letter of the class is on the left. Zani[230] has conjectured that the letters might have been intended for abbreviations of Atutto, Battoni, Coppe, Denari, and Espadone,--Atous, Batons, Cups, Money, and Swords. _Spadone_, however, and not _Espadone_, is the proper Italian name for swords; but as the names are in the Venetian dialect, Mons. Duchesne appears inclined to allow that the form _Espadone_ might have been admitted into it at that period. That the letters, however, had no such meaning, and that they were merely used to mark the order of each class, seems to be proved by the fact that in another set of the same subjects, executed about the same period, the numeral 5 is substituted for the letter E. Even if Zani's supposition were correct, it would only strengthen the conclusion that those so-called Tarocchi cards originated in an attempt to recombine, under new emblems, the principles of an old game which had acquired a disreputable character. Whatever the game might have been, it has long become obsolete; and the only reason for supposing it to have been cognate with that of cards, is grounded on the fact that a certain