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The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His AssociatesDe Vinne, Theodore Low

History

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates

Name: The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates
Author: De Vinne, Theodore Low

De Vinne, Theodore Low

Incunabula -- Bibliography; Printing -- History -- Origin and antecedents

The illustration on the next leaf is the reduced fac-simile of a suite
of twenty-two playing cards, intended, apparently, [p102] to convey
solemn religious truths in the form of a game of life and death. We do
not know how the game was played: we have to accept the figures upon
the cards as their own explanation and commentary. In the figures of
Jupiter and of the Devil, we see the powers which shape the destinies
of men. The Wheel of Fortune is emblematic of the fate which assigns to
one man the condition of a Hermit, and to another that of an Emperor.
The virtues of Temperance, Justice and Strength which man opposes to
Fate, the frivolity of the Fool, the happiness of the Lover (if he can
be happy who is cajoled by two women), and the pride of the Empress,
are all dominated by the central card bearing an image of the skeleton
Death—Death which precedes the Last Judgment and opens to the righteous
the House of God. In these cards we have a pictorial representation
of scenes from one of the curious spectacle plays of the middle ages,
which were often enacted in the open air to the accompaniments of dance
and music. The union of fearful mysteries with ridiculous accessories,
and the ghastly suggestion of the fate of all men, as shown in the
card of Death the reaper—these were the features which gave point and
character to the series of strange cartoons popular for many centuries
in all parts of civilized Europe under the title of the _Dance of
Death_.

This was but one of the many innovations proposed as substitutes for
the older oriental games. In the latter part of the fifteenth century,
playing cards were made in Italy with figures which represented the
four great monarchies of the ancient world, with which a childish game
was played in imitation of war and conquest. Suitable marks on the
cards designated the four different classes of society; hearts were
the symbol of the clergy; spades (from the Italian _spada_, a sword)
were for the nobility; clubs stood for the peasantry; and diamonds
represented the citizens or burghers.

[Illustration:

 1 The Juggler.               12 The Hanged.
 2 Juno.                      13 Death.
 3 The Empress.               14 Temperance.
 4 The Emperor.               15 The Devil.
 5 Jupiter.                   16 The House of God.
 6 The Lovers.                17 The Stars.
 7 The Chariot.               18 The Moon.
 8 Justice.                   19 The Sun.
 9 The Hermit                 20 The Last Judgment.
 10 The Wheel of Fortune.     21 The World.
 11 Strength.                 22 The Fool.

Reduced Fac-Simile of French Copper-plate Playing Cards of the
Sixteenth Century.

[From Breitkopf.]]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates

De Vinne, Theodore Low

Incunabula -- Bibliography; Printing -- History -- Origin and antecedents

The illustration on the next leaf is the reduced fac-simile of a suite
of twenty-two playing cards, intended, apparently, [p102] to convey
solemn religious truths in the form of a game of life and death. We do
not know how the game was played: we have to accept the figures upon
the cards as their own explanation and commentary. In the figures of
Jupiter and of the Devil, we see the powers which shape the destinies
of men. The Wheel of Fortune is emblematic of the fate which assigns to
one man the condition of a Hermit, and to another that of an Emperor.
The virtues of Temperance, Justice and Strength which man opposes to
Fate, the frivolity of the Fool, the happiness of the Lover (if he can
be happy who is cajoled by two women), and the pride of the Empress,
are all dominated by the central card bearing an image of the skeleton
Death—Death which precedes the Last Judgment and opens to the righteous
the House of God. In these cards we have a pictorial representation
of scenes from one of the curious spectacle plays of the middle ages,
which were often enacted in the open air to the accompaniments of dance
and music. The union of fearful mysteries with ridiculous accessories,
and the ghastly suggestion of the fate of all men, as shown in the
card of Death the reaper—these were the features which gave point and
character to the series of strange cartoons popular for many centuries
in all parts of civilized Europe under the title of the _Dance of
Death_.

This was but one of the many innovations proposed as substitutes for
the older oriental games. In the latter part of the fifteenth century,
playing cards were made in Italy with figures which represented the
four great monarchies of the ancient world, with which a childish game
was played in imitation of war and conquest. Suitable marks on the
cards designated the four different classes of society; hearts were
the symbol of the clergy; spades (from the Italian _spada_, a sword)
were for the nobility; clubs stood for the peasantry; and diamonds
represented the citizens or burghers.

[Illustration:

 1 The Juggler.               12 The Hanged.
 2 Juno.                      13 Death.
 3 The Empress.               14 Temperance.
 4 The Emperor.               15 The Devil.
 5 Jupiter.                   16 The House of God.
 6 The Lovers.                17 The Stars.
 7 The Chariot.               18 The Moon.
 8 Justice.                   19 The Sun.
 9 The Hermit                 20 The Last Judgment.
 10 The Wheel of Fortune.     21 The World.
 11 Strength.                 22 The Fool.

Reduced Fac-Simile of French Copper-plate Playing Cards of the
Sixteenth Century.

[From Breitkopf.]]

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates

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