Our knowledge of the origin of engraving on wood has not been materially increased by the recent discovery of the _Berlin_ and _Brussels Prints_. We see that wood-cuts of merit were made during the first quarter of the fifteenth century, but we see also that they could not have been the first productions of a recently discovered or newly revived art. They present indications of a skill in engraving which could have been acquired only through experience. One has but to compare them with wood-cuts made by amateurs in typographic printing in Italy, Germany and Holland between the years 1460 and 1500, to perceive that the manufacturers of the image prints were much more skillful as engravers. If there were no other evidences, we could confidently assume that this skill could have been acquired only by practice on ruder and earlier engravings. Of this preliminary practice-work we find clear traces in the stenciled and printed playing cards which were popular in many parts of Europe before the introduction of images. [p088] V Printed and Stenciled Playing Cards. Playing Cards not made by the Frotton . . . Their Manufacture an Industry of Importance . . . Decree of the Senate of Venice prohibiting the Importation of Cards . . . Early Notices of Card-Making in Germany . . . Probable Method of Manufacture . . . Illustrations of a Playing Card of the Fifteenth Century . . . Jost Amman’s Illustrations of a Print Colorer and an Engraver on Wood . . . Playing Cards made from Engraved Blocks . . . Early Notices of Card Playing in France . . . Cards Prohibited to the People in France and Spain . . . Introduced in Italy in 1379 . . . Not Invented in Germany . . . An Oriental Game . . . Illustrations of Chinese Cards . . . Originated in Hindostan . . . Transmitted to Europe through the Saracens . . . Popularity of Cards in Europe . . . Cards Denounced by the Clergy . . . New Forms and New Games of Cards, with Illustrations . . . Unsuccessful Attempts to make Cards a Means of Instruction . . . Cards not an Unmixed Evil . . . Induced Respect for Letters and Education . . . Cards probably made before Images . . . Made by Block-Printing . . . Most largely made by this process in Germany. * * * * * After innumerable experiments and disappointments, the art so eagerly sought and so sorely needed was at last discovered. And what is strange, although in accordance with the capriciousness of invention, this art that had eluded all the efforts and aspirations of intelligence, was discovered by makers of cards. It was by them, and for the peculiar requirements of their work, that xylography was invented. _Bibliophile Jacob._ * * * * *