In pre-Renaissance Europe, only the wealthy could afford them. The Puritans called them the "devil's picture book." Whether elaborately hand-painted or crudely printed, decks of playing cards have been used for gambling, recreation, fortune-telling and other activities for hundreds of years. Far more elaborate and decorative in centuries past, playing cards today are relatively subdued-looking-in sharp contrast to the splendid images in this treasury of designs used on cards between the 14th and early 20th centuries. Reproduced from over 90 decks shown in a rare French two-volume history of playing cards, nearly 600 images in black-and-white and 325 in color depict Bacchus, death, dancing dogs, players cheating at cards, royal coats of arms, stylized versions of the king, queen and other face cards, hunting scenes and much more. Eye-catching, humorous, quaint, often slyly satiric, these illustrations not only offer an intriguing look at the historic and decorative aspects...

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