For a very long time invention of playing cards was attributed to the 14th century French painter Jacqueline Grangonner, who allegedly first invented these small painted cardboard sheets. And he did this in order to amuse Charles VI with them in moments of enlightenment of His Majesty’s darkened mind.
This version was first refuted in the 18th century by two learned writers, Abbots de Longru and Reeve, who in their dissertations convincingly proved that cards and card games appeared long before the reign of this poor sovereign.
The first indisputable proof of this is the authentic act of the Cologne Cathedral, which prohibited card games for clergy.
This act appeared much earlier than the time when Grangonner handed over the maps he had drawn to the insanity-stricken monarch. The decent fee he received for these cards encouraged the artist to be creative, and he began to actively work on improving the design of the cards. He replaced some figures on the maps, and during the reign of Charles VII he made further changes to the images on the maps and came up with the names for the figures that they still bear.
So, at the whim of the artist David, the peak king, was the emblem of Charles VII, and the king of hearts was named Charlemagne. Queen Regina in Clubs lady depicted Mary, wife of Charles VII.
Pallas, the Queen of Spades, personified the Virgin of Orleans, Joan of Arc. Rachel, the Queen of Diamonds - the gentle Agnes Sorel, and the Queen of Hearts Judith - the light "moral" Isabella of Bavaria. Four jack(squires) meant four brave knights: Ogier and Lancelot under Charlemagne, Hector de Gallard and La Hire under Charles VII. And other names of the cards were designed by the artist in the taste of that time - a warlike allegory. Hearts were an emblem of courage, spades and diamonds represented weapons, clubs represented food supplies, fodder and ammunition. And finally, ace(as) in its Latin meaning represented what has always been recognized as the main wealth of war - money.
The painter Grangonner, therefore, although not inventor of cards, but left to his compatriots and everyone a legacy, which greatly contributed and continues to contribute to the entertainment of people, and not only leisure, but also business, and led to a variety of activities in all levels of society.
The phenomenon of rapid distribution of maps throughout the world is unprecedented. Cards are played in all corners of the globe. Maps can be a topic of study for a philosopher and psychologist, a statistician and an economist, a moralist and a clergyman...
We must admit that origin of the cards is still covered in impenetrable darkness. Scientists realized it too late; time had managed to destroy monuments that could have shed light on the history of the appearance of maps. However, many learned people have devoted most of their lives to researching the history of playing cards.
But, despite all their efforts, this story is still replete with many blank spots, confused, and it is safe to say that it is unlikely that anyone will ever be able to find out when cards actually appeared and when for the first time The first players sat down at the gaming table.
What were playing cards made from?
In fact, to play a card game, it is not necessary to have the playing cards that we currently know: rectangular, oval, round or any other shape, made of thick cardboard. They can be made of wood, leather, ivory or even metal. Such maps can be seen in many museums around the world. In some countries, cards are still made from wood, in some places from plastic materials in the shape of dominoes, especially for card games such as Rams And Canasta. Thus, the material from which the cards are made may vary. The most suitable, however, turned out to be cards made from special paper. Moreover, such paper appeared almost simultaneously in many countries.
If paper was indeed invented in China back in 105 AD, then paper maps apparently appeared not much later.
There are many legends regarding the invention of cards. According to one of them, in prehistoric times a beautiful princess was kidnapped by a robber. While in captivity, she made cards from leather and taught her enslaver to play them. The robber was supposedly so enchanted by the game of cards that he released the princess as a sign of gratitude.
One Greek legend attributes the invention of cards to Palamedes, the son of the Euboean king Nauplias, a very smart and cunning man who managed, for example, to expose Odysseus himself. Odysseus wanted to stay away from the Greek war against Troy. When Palamedes found him in connection with this. Odysseus pretended to be crazy. And he did it this way: he also harnessed a donkey to the plow with his oxen, and began to sow the field not with grains, but to scatter salt into the furrows. However, Palamedes immediately saw through the deception. He returned to the palace, took Odysseus’ son Telemachus from the cradle, brought him to the field and laid him in a furrow in front of a team of oxen and a donkey. Odysseus, of course, turned to the side, thereby betraying himself. This cunning of Palamedes was the basis for various inventions being attributed to him. He allegedly invented scales, letters, dice, some measures, and during the many years of the siege of Troy, playing cards. And this happened 1000 years BC!
There are researchers who name another person who allegedly invented the cards. He is supposedly one of the seven wise men of ancient Greece, namely the philosopher Cylon, who wanted to help the poor forget about food. To do this, he invented cards that the poor began to play and during the game they completely forgot about hunger.
The list of legends and tales about the invention of cards can be continued, but it is clear that they are not the invention of one single person.
How were the rules of old card games developed?
It can be assumed that these were, first of all, combination games like the current Rams and Canasta games, i.e. games in which it was considered necessary to combine cards by pictures, colors, etc. as quickly as possible. This is evidenced by the fact that there were games that used cards not only with 3 and 4 images, but also with 5, 6 and more. In Korea, cards are played with the image of 8 figures: man, horse, antelope, rabbit, pheasant, crow, fish and star. And for each of these figures there are 10 different cards, i.e. the deck consists of 80 cards.
In the old days, the Chinese even played on devalued banknotes. Since there were few coins, and long travel with a large amount of money was dangerous, already in the 7th century the state allowed the so-called “flying money”. For the wasteful life of their courts, the rulers needed more and more money and ordered to print whole heaps of it. Money depreciated at a catastrophic rate, and it got to the point where in the 9th century it lost all value. Old banknotes were exchanged for new ones in the ratio of 1:100, 1:500, 1:1000, 1:2000... It was at this time that cards began to be played with old money. And these money cards existed in China almost until the end of the 9th century. In China, they still play cards that depict a general, two advisers, elephants, horses, war chariots, guns, and 5 soldiers. These 16 figures are colored red, white, yellow and green. Each suit is repeated twice, and thus the total number of cards in the deck is 128. Chinese cards have always been characterized by their shape: they are long and narrow.
Indian cards have a completely different shape; they are square and sometimes round. Indian cards usually had 4 suits, but there were also 12 colored cards, and each color had 12 cards, i.e. the number of cards in the deck was 144.
When did playing cards appear in Russia?
Presumably, cards appeared in Russia shortly after their appearance in Europe, in particular in Germany and France. They quickly penetrated primarily into the ruling circles. In any case, already under Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna, card games, especially in court circles, flourished, and card games reached their highest peak during the reign of Catherine II. It is reliably known that almost all of Catherine’s nobles played. Many of them put colossal fortunes at stake, while losing lands of tens of thousands of dessiatines and serfs. Quite often, peasants woke up in the morning to find out that, at the whim of the owner, they had been lost to another person and became his property. Household girls, especially beautiful ones, were sometimes put on the map for a colossal sum, and along with them, hunting dogs and thoroughbred horses were also put on the line.
There is no exact information about when cards appeared in Russia. Some researchers believe that this happened quite late, approximately in the second quarter of the 9th century. However, this contradicts other obvious facts. Researcher Yu. Dmitriev reports that back in 1759, mechanic Pyotr Dumolin, who came to Moscow, demonstrated “moving maps” in one of the houses in the German settlement. And another Russian researcher A. Vyatkin dates the appearance of cards in Russia to an even earlier date, to the 7th century, and substantiates this with the well-known Tsarist Code of 1649, which prescribed that players should be treated “as with thieves,” i.e. thieves. According to the same Vyatkin, cards came to Russia through Ukraine, from Germany (“the local Cossacks whiled away their time playing cards”).
The fact that cards appeared in Russia simultaneously with their arrival in Europe is also evidenced by the fact that the Russians “kept in step” with the Europeans in mastering the secrets of many card games.
Video: History of playing cards
Description
Card decks come in full and shortened versions. They are divided into plastic and satin (high quality paper).
Full deck
A full deck consists of 54 cards: aces, twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, sevens, eights, nines, tens, jacks, queens, kings and two jokers.
The complete deck is suitable for all card games.
Short deck
The shortened deck has 36 cards. The minimum card is six. There are no jokers in the shortened deck.
The shortened deck is suitable for most card games.
Standard deck options
A standard deck consists of 54 cards:
- 52 basic cards are characterized by one of four suits(two colors) and one of 13 advantages.
- 2 special cards, so-called jokers, usually differing in design.
Deck of cards:
- 54 cards (maximum deck, starting from aces to jokers)
- 52 cards (deck, starts from deuces to ace),
- 48 cards (deck starting from threes to ace),
- 44 cards (medium deck, starting from fours to ace),
- 40 cards (deck starting from fives to aces),
- 36 cards (deck starting from sixes to ace),
- 32 cards (minimum deck, starting from sevens to ace).
to play a thousand, a deck of 24 cards is used http://www.casinoobzor.ru/html/rules/pravila_igry_tysyacha_1000.php
Other types of decks
Different countries use different decks. The most famous:
- Standard deck
Suits
Names of suits (only the first one listed is literary):
- ♠ - spades (vini, vini)
- ♣ - clubs (crosses, crosses, acorns, fat)
- - hearts (worms, fats, love)
- ♦ - tambourines (tambourines, tambourines, calls).
Cards of spades and clubs are called black, and hearts and diamonds are called red.
In other languages
English names of cards and suits
- Clubs - clubs
- Diamonds
- Hearts
- Peaks - spades
Advantages:
- "B" = "J" - Jack
- "D" = "Q" - Queen
- "K" = "K" - King
- "T" = "A" - Ace
Cards under ten are named by numerical designation (two, three, .. ten), as well as by nicknames: two - “deuce”, three - “trey”.
French names of cards and suits
- Clubs - trèfles
- Tambourines - carreaux
- Hearts - cœurs
- Peaks
Advantages:
- "V" = "V" - Valet
- "D" = "D" - Dame
- "K" = "R" - Roi
- "T" = "A" - As
Polish names of cards and suits
- Clubs - trefl, żołądź [trefl, żołądź]
- Tambourines - karo, dzwonek [karo, dzwonek]
- Hearts - czerwień, kier [cherven, ker]
- Peaks - pik, wino [peak, wine]
Advantages:
- “B” = “J” - walet, Jopek [jack, yopek]
- “D” = “Q” - dama [lady]
- "K" = "K" - król [krul]
- "T" = "A" - As [as]
Values
All cards
- Numeric ( foschi) (9): two (designation 2 ), three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
- Pictures, Broadway cards ( figures or oners, from English honor - honor) (3): jack (designation IN or J- English Jack), lady (designation D or Q- English Queen), king (symbol TO or K- English King), ace (designation T or A- English Ace).
The accepted order (seniority, sequence) of cards: ace (the lowest card), two, three, ..., king, joker. In many games, the Ace is the highest card. Some games have different card ranks. For example, in the German deck and the Italo-Spanish deck there are no queens at all; their place is taken by “high jacks” or horsemen. In the card game "Minor Tarots" there is a deck that is, in fact, a complete set of the Minor Arcana of the Tarot, but with a European designation of suits. Almost every year, new decks of cards appear on the market, differing in small details from the classic ones, both in the number of oners and in the suit designation; the number of suits may also be different. The shape of the cards themselves can also be very diverse: round and oval playing cards will surprise no one! The shape is most often simply close to symmetrical, from an equilateral triangle to an amoeba-like one.
High cards
| № | Ill. | Name | Description and meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joker | The card depicts a jester - colored or black and white. The most powerful card in the deck. | |
| 2 |  |
Ace | The card shows one suit sign and two letters “T” |
| 3 |  |
King (playing) card |
|
| 4 |  |
Lady | Each of the ladies is depicted in a red dress and shawl. They each have a flower in their hands and a crown on their head. |
| 5 |  |
Jack | Each of the jacks is wearing a shirt and a hat. They hold halberds in their hands. |
Links
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
See what “Deck of playing cards” is in other dictionaries:
This term has other meanings, see Playing Card Museum. Coordinates: 59°52′57.32″ N. w. 29°54′39.44″ E. d. / 59.882589° n. w... Wikipedia
Main article: Tarot cards Cards of a typical Tarot deck ... Wikipedia
DECK, decks, women. 1. A short thick log, a stump of a log. || The same as adaptation to various industries and economic purposes (special). Leatherworking block. The deck is part of a carpentry workbench. The lintel deck is above the door. 2.… … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
1. DECK, s; and. 1. Short thick log; thick trunk of a fallen tree. There were only rotten decks left instead of a forest. Stop lying like k. 2. A stump of such a log, adapted for what l. needs. Chop meat on a block. Chop wood for... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary
DECK, s, women. 1. Short thick log. Oak room 2. A type of wooden trough with a hollowed out middle. Watering room 3. transfer. About a fat, clumsy man (simple neod.). Through the stump the deck (cut) (colloquial) do what n. somehow... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
Playing cards are rectangular sheets of cardboard or thin plastic used for card games. The complete set of playing cards for a game is called a deck of cards. Cards are also used for magic tricks and fortune telling. On one side of the card (open), ... ... Wikipedia
deck- DECK, s, w. Set of playing cards. ◘ A poet who describes a deck of cards better than another tree is not always higher than his opponent. K.F. Ryleev. Letter to A.S. Pushkin, 1825. ◘ Seriously, indifferently // The decks were exchanged by his obedient villain //… … 19th century card terminology and jargon
deck- I s; and. see also log 1) A short thick log; thick trunk of a fallen tree. There were only rotten decks left instead of a forest. Stop lying there like a cola. 2) A stump of such a log, adapted for what purpose. needs. Chop meat on a block... ... Dictionary of many expressions
deck- DECK, s, f Collection of playing cards, their complete set. He (Talman) quickly, amid general laughter, took two new decks of cards out of his pocket and with a bang printed them out one after another (Kupr.) ... Explanatory dictionary of Russian nouns
I A short thick log. II 1. A log with a hollowed out middle, used as a trough, trench, beehive, boat, etc. 2. A tub made of wood. III A complete set of playing cards. IV m. and f. 1. decompression reduction Fat, clumsy... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova
The invention of this entertainment, an inexhaustible source of joys and sorrows, is attributed to the cunning Egyptians, the fatalistic Indians, and the cheerful Greeks in the person of Palamedes. However, during excavations, if gambling “tools” were found, it was mainly in the form of hexagonal-shaped dice-cubes.
It is generally accepted that the first maps appeared later, in the 12th century in China. Masters of filling their leisure time, the court aristocrats, initially discovered aesthetic fun in drawing small pictures with allegorical signs of animals, birds and plants. Then - a convenient way of transmitting secret information in the matter of palace and love affairs. And later - the possibility of risky games with the all-powerful Fatum.
But the Egyptian version of the origin of the cards, replicated by modern occultists, is much more popular. They claimed that in ancient times, Egyptian priests wrote down all the wisdom of the world on 78 golden tablets, which were also depicted in the symbolic form of cards. 56 of them - the “Minor Arcana” - became ordinary playing cards, and the remaining 22 “Major Arcana” became part of the mysterious Tarot deck used for fortune telling. This version was first published in 1785 by the French occultist Etteila, and his successors, the French Eliphas Levi and Dr. Papus and the English Mathers and Crowley, created their own systems for interpreting Tarot cards. The name supposedly comes from the Egyptian “ta rosh” (“the path of kings”), and the maps themselves were brought to Europe either by Arabs or gypsies, who were often considered to have come from Egypt.
True, scientists were unable to find any evidence of such an early existence of the Tarot deck.
According to the third version (European version), ordinary maps appeared on the European continent no later than the 14th century. Back in 1367, card games were banned in the city of Bern, and ten years later, a shocked papal envoy watched in horror as the monks enthusiastically played cards near the walls of their monastery. In 1392, Jacquemin Gringonner, the jester of the mentally ill French King Charles VI, drew a deck of cards for the amusement of his master. The deck of that time differed from the current one in one detail: it had only 32 cards. There were four ladies missing, whose presence seemed unnecessary at the time. Only in the next century did Italian artists begin to depict Madonnas not only in paintings, but also on maps.
Just at this time, Europe began to carry out large military expeditions to the East - the Crusades (1096-1270), and for the first time Europeans discovered a new and already highly developed culture. Returning home, the crusaders did not forget to take with them the exotic things that amazed them: light porcelain, the finest silk, painted fans and, of course, charming miniatures on thick rice paper for tricks and fortune telling.
However, a lot of time passed before card games became widespread. In any case, the first mention in the chronicles of the Saracen game “naib” (Arabic “naib” - cards) dates back to the last quarter of the 14th century. It is characteristic that, in full accordance with the Arabic sound, the word “cards” in Italian is “naibi”; in Spanish "naipes"; in Portuguese “naipe” (this was associated with lively trade with Arab countries and close contact with local merchants, known for their passion to pay for goods “by chance,” i.e., according to the principle of the unforgettable Nozdryov).
In other European countries, another cognate word has been firmly established: in France - “carte”, in Germany - “Karten, SpielKarten”, in Denmark - “Kort, SpelKort”, in Holland - “Kaarten, SpeelKarten”, in England - “card” "
At the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries, maps were made directly by the artist and to individual orders. Naturally, its productivity was low, and only with the invention of engraving did map printing take on a large scale.
Three main types of playing cards are stacked at the same time: Italian, French and German. All of them had differences both in suits and in the figures themselves.
The Italian type of cards arose with the invention of the game "tarok". These maps, made as copper engravings, were very unique. In a normal, or “Venetian” tarok, the deck consisted of 78 cards, the suits were divided into cups, denarii, swords and clubs. Each suit contained 14 cards: king, queen, knight, jack, point cards from ten to six, ace of swords, point cards from five to two. The remaining 21 cards, starting from the Figurate and ending with the card called Light, were trump cards, or Triumphs. Finally, there was another card called the Fool (by the way, a prototype of the future Joker). In Florence, 98 cards were issued, where graces, elements and 12 constellations were added to the usual Triumphs.
There is an assumption that a deck is not a random collection of cards. 52 cards are the number of weeks in a year, four suits are the four seasons. Green suit is a symbol of energy and vitality, spring, west, water. In medieval cards, the sign of the suit was depicted using a rod, staff, or stick with green leaves, which were simplified to black spades when printing cards. The red color symbolized beauty, north, spirituality. The card of this suit depicted cups, bowls, hearts, and books. The yellow suit is a symbol of intelligence, fire, south, and business success. The playing card depicted a coin, a rhombus, a lit torch, the sun, fire, and a golden bell. Blue suit is a symbol of simplicity and decency. The sign of this suit was an acorn, crossed swords, swords.
Cards at that time were 22 centimeters long, which made them extremely inconvenient to play.
There was no uniformity in card suits. In early Italian decks they were called "swords", "cups", "denarii" (coins) and "wands". It seems, as in India, to be associated with classes: the nobility, clergy and merchant class, while the rod symbolized the royal power that stood over them. In the French version, swords became “spades”, cups became “hearts”, denarii became “diamonds”, and “wands” became “crosses” or “clubs” (the latter word means “clover leaf” in French). . These names still sound different in different languages; for example, in England and Germany these are “shovels”, “hearts”, “diamonds” and “bludgeons”, and in Italy they are “spears”, “hearts”, “squares” and “flowers”. On German cards you can still find the old names of the suits: “acorns”, “hearts”, “bells” and “leaves”. As for the Russian word “hearts,” it comes from the word “chervonny” (“red”): it is clear that “hearts” originally referred to the red suit.
Mamluk maps. Ten of Cups, Three of Cups, First Advisor of Cups, Second Advisor of Cups
The Hofämterspiel deck reflects the political situation in Central Europe in the mid-15th century. Instead of suits, the coats of arms of the four most influential kingdoms of that time were taken: France, Germany, Bohemia and Hungary. The single-headed eagle represents the "regnum teutonicum" kingdom of Germany (as opposed to the double-headed eagle representing the Holy Roman Empire).
Read more about her HERE.
Early card games were quite complex, because in addition to 56 standard cards, they used 22 “Major Arcana” plus another 20 trump cards, named after the signs of the Zodiac and the elements. In different countries these cards were called differently and the rules were so confused that it became simply impossible to play. In addition, the cards were hand-colored and were so expensive that only the rich could purchase them. In the 16th century, the cards were radically simplified - almost all the pictures disappeared from them, with the exception of the four “high suits” and the jester (joker).
Cards of the Italian type appeared in France at the end of the 14th century, and already under Charles VII (1403-1461) cards with their own national suits appeared: heart, sickle of the moon, trefoil and spade. And at the end of the 15th century, the type of suits that are still used today was finally established in French cards: hearts (coeur), diamonds (carreau), clubs (trefle) and spades (pique). Since this time, French cards have acquired a stable type, which is characterized by the following figures: David - king of spades, Alexander - king of clubs, Caesar - king of diamonds, Charles - king of hearts, Pallas - queen of spades, Argina - queen of clubs, Rachel - queen of diamonds , Judith is the queen of hearts, Hector is the jack of diamonds, Ogier is the jack of spades, Lancelot is the jack of clubs and Lagir is the jack of hearts. This type of map reached the French Revolution of 1789-1894.
The new republican government entrusts not just anyone, but the most famous painter at that time, J.L. David (the author of the famous painting “The Death of Marat”) to create new drawings of cards. Instead of kings, David depicted the geniuses of war, trade, peace and the arts, replaced the ladies with allegories of freedom of religion, the press, marriage and trades, and instead of jacks he painted figures symbolizing the equality of fortunes, rights, duties and races. It was in France that forms of four colors originally appeared: ivy leaves, acorns, bells, hearts. It is a very plausible assumption that the French suits are symbols of knightly use: a lance is a spear, a club is a sword, a diamond is a coat of arms or oriflamme (banner, standard), and hearts are a shield.
On these cards from the French "deck on feet" (1648), the images are labeled with their names.
It is also necessary to say that for many centuries maps were “single-headed,” i.e. the figures on them were depicted in full growth. The first maps without a “top” and “bottom”, “two-headed”, were produced by Italy at the end of the 17th century. At this time, these cards were not widely used. Then a similar attempt was made in Belgium, and at the beginning of the 19th century France began to produce such maps.
Traditional deck. Germany
Traditional deck. Switzerland
By the way, the tradition of magnificently decorating the Ace of Spades came from the fact that during the reign of King James I of England (1566-1625), a decree was issued according to which information about the manufacturer and its logo had to be printed on the Ace of Spades (since this card is the first in the deck). . A special stamp was placed on the same ace, indicating the payment of a special tax on cards.
In addition to these basic types of maps, so-called “thematic” maps were issued in various European countries. There were “pedagogical” decks that taught players geography, history or grammar. Illustration cards for the dramas of Shakespeare, Schiller, and Moliere enjoyed success. “Toys for adults” reflected heraldry, palmistry and even fashion. For example, in the middle of the last century, cards were printed in France on which the clothes of kings, queens and jacks represented the latest models of the season...
By the 13th century, maps were already known and popular throughout Europe. From this moment on, the history of the development of cards becomes clearer, but rather monotonous. In the Middle Ages, both fortune telling and gambling were considered sinful. In addition, cards have become the most popular game during the working day - a terrible sin, according to employers of all times. Therefore, from the middle of the 13th century, the history of the development of cards turns into the history of prohibitions associated with them.
For example, in France in the 17th century, householders in whose apartments played gambling card games paid a fine, were deprived of their civil rights and were expelled from the city. Card debts were not recognized by law, and parents could recover a large sum from the person who won money from their child. After the French Revolution, indirect taxes on the game were abolished, which stimulated its development. The “pictures” themselves also changed - since the kings were in disgrace, it was customary to draw geniuses instead, ladies now symbolized virtues - in other words, a new social structure came into card symbolism. True, already in 1813, jacks, queens and kings returned to the cards. The indirect tax on game cards was only abolished in France in 1945.
Maps appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century. The largest Russian critic and art historian V.V. Stasov believed that the cards came to the Slavic peoples from the Germans, without denying, however, that Poland played the role of the main mediator in this matter. But no matter how playing cards got into Little Russia or Muscovy, they spread extremely quickly. Of the legislative monuments, the Code of 1649 is the first to mention maps and their undeniable harmfulness to society. For more than a century, card games were persecuted by law in Russia, and players caught in the act were subjected to various punishments, until in 1761 it was established that games were divided into prohibited - gambling and permitted - commercial.
A decree of 1696 under Peter I ordered that everyone suspected of wanting to play cards be searched, “... and anyone whose cards are taken out should be beaten with a whip.” These punitive sanctions and similar ones that followed were due to the costs associated with the spread of gambling card games. Along with them, there were the so-called commercial card games, as well as the use of cards for performing tricks and playing solitaire.
The development of “innocent” forms of using cards was facilitated by Elizabeth Petrovna’s decree of 1761 dividing the use of cards into what was prohibited for gambling and what was permitted for commercial games. The route of penetration of cards into Russia is not entirely clear. Most likely, they became widespread in connection with the Polish-Swedish intervention during the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 18th century.
Card games, which found a warm welcome in boyar houses and palace chambers, were certainly prohibited for the common people. In 1648, shortly after the accession of Alexei Mikhailovich, a royal decree was issued aimed at eradicating harmful customs and beliefs that still persisted among the urban and especially rural population. The decree listed in detail numerous sins that required immediate eradication:
“...Many people, male and female, come together at the dawns, and in the night they cast spells, from the first sunrise they watch the days of the moon, and during a loud crash (in a thunderstorm) on rivers and lakes they buy, hope for their health from this, and wash themselves with silver, and bears lead, and dogs dance, and cards, and chess, and play with ankles, and disorderly jumping and splashing, and sing demonic songs; and on Holy Week, wives and girls jump on boards (on swings), and on the Nativity of Christ and before the Epiphany, many people, male and female, come together in a demonic host due to demonic charm, many demonic actions play in all sorts of demonic games ... ".
It should be noted that along with gambling card games, such completely innocent fun as riding on a swing was also prohibited!
The decree of 1648 introduced a whole range of measures to combat card games and other “disorders”. It was ordered to be read out “many times” at the auction, lists from it “word for word” were sent to the largest villages and volosts, so that “this strong order of ours would be known to all people” and no one could then excuse it by ignorance.
Buffoon clothes, hari and masks, musical instruments, chessboards and decks of cards were ordered to be taken away and burned, and in relation to people found in violation of the decree, the governors were ordered “where such outrage appears, or who will say such outrage against whom, and you will they ordered to beat the batogs; and which people will not give up on such outrages, but will take out such godly card games and others, and you would order those disobedient ones to be beaten by batogs; and those people who do not give up on this, but show up in such guilt for the third and fourth time, and those, according to our decree, were ordered to be exiled to the Ukrainian (i.e., border) cities for disgrace.” And the governors themselves, so that they would not skimp on the implementation of the decree, were given a strict instruction: “But you will not act according to this decree of ours, and you will be in great disgrace from us (Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich).”
It must be assumed that initially the decree was carried out with all its inherent harshness, and more than one gambler had his back stripped with whips or sticks at the auction. But according to the saying “the cruelty of laws in Rus' is mitigated by the possibility of their non-execution,” the effect of this decree gradually faded away - mainly due to the physical impossibility of its implementation.
The next and very noticeable blow to playing cards was dealt the following year, 1649. The compilers of the famous “Code” of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich classified the card game and its consequences as crimes of extreme criminality, cruelly punishable by injury and death. In the 1649 edition of the Code, an article related to the “card game” is placed in the chapter “on robbery and Tatin affairs.”
“And those thieves,” it is said in this article, “in Moscow and in the cities they steal, play cards and grains, and, losing, steal, walking along the streets, cutting people, tearing off hats and robbing ...”, then such should have been, after interrogation with torture, “make the decree (sentence) the same as written above about tatekh (robbers), that is, put in prison, confiscate property, beat with a whip, cut off ears (in the subsequent edition of the Code - fingers and hands) and execute by death "
The classification of card games as a serious crime had a great impact on the trading of playing cards. The surviving customs books show that after 1649 the import of cards, for example, to Veliky Ustyug, was halved compared to previous years, and after 1652 it stopped altogether. But has the card game stopped?
Special personalized royal decrees of 1668 and 1670 introduced a special regime in the Kremlin: people of various ranks - from the steward and below - were strictly forbidden to enter the Kremlin on horseback, to gamble during the sovereign's appearances in cathedral churches; when the tsar appeared, they were ordered to stand without "peaceful and serene" hats.
Significant government spending on military operations required a constant search for new sources of income. An interesting document has been preserved dating back to the end of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich and indicating that among the Moscow administration, probably convinced of the ineradicability of the card game, a happy idea arose to turn it into a source of state income. The Moscow government has repeatedly acted in this way ingeniously before, replacing the brutal persecution of the use of vodka and tobacco with a monopoly state-owned trade in these goods, to a greater increase in the treasury.
The mentioned document is a charter given to the Turin governor Alexei Beklemishev in Siberia in 1675. It turned out that from Tobolsk to Moscow before that “voivode Pyotr Godunov and clerk Mikhailo Postnikov wrote that they (it is unknown on what basis) gave away grain and cards in Tobolsk to the farmer,” in other words, they allowed the opening of gambling houses at the expense of the treasury and under its cover Houses. (Let us note in parentheses that along with the cards, the enterprising governor also farmed out “married wives for fornication” - and all for the benefit of the treasury!)
Many other cities of the “Tobolsk category” wanted to follow the seductive initiative of Godunov and Postnikov. Voivodes from Verkhoturye and Surgut wrote, “that grain and cards should be farmed out to them for the same reason.” The great sovereign pointed out these simple-minded writings: in Tobolsk and other cities, “set aside the grain and cards and pay off the grain and cards from the salary.” The letter ordered the governor of the Turin fort, Beklemishev, to do the same, even if, following the example of Tobolsk and according to Godunov’s “unsubscribes,” he had already farmed out the grain and cards. Knowing the customs of local administrators, who easily found loopholes in decrees, the tsar’s letter especially indicated: “the tax farmer himself, he will suddenly be sent from Tobolsk, and not the Turin tenant, and he will be expelled from Turinsk, and henceforth a strong order will be made.”
The persecution of card games was not limited to prohibitory decrees. In 1672, by order of Alexei Mikhailovich, Lutheran pastor Johann Gottfried Gregory built a new theater church in Preobrazhenskoye, and in November the first performance was given before the Tsar - the comedy “Artxer's Action”. This was followed by new productions of a comedic and moralizing nature. The play “The History or Action of the Gospel Parable of the Prodigal Son,” composed by Simeon of Polotsk, became famous. This production is remarkable in that a kind of theatrical “programme” was published for it, in which scenes from the action were shown in the drawings, accompanied by explanations. In the story, the prodigal son, having received part of the estate from his father, leaves home and begins a wild life. He hires many servants, plays with grain and cards, gets involved with mistresses and, finally, squanders all his estate.
In one of the pictures of this “program” the prodigal son is shown playing cards and grains at a table, surrounded by players. This is the earliest depiction of a card game in Russia.
After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, the persecution against gamblers softened significantly. In the royal decrees sent to localities, there was no longer the previous intimidation of players with injuries and executions for the very fact of playing cards; the whole threat is limited to a vague expression - “the order to repair strong.” The import of playing cards into Russia resumed and even increased significantly; 17,136 decks of them were brought to Veliky Ustyug alone in 1676-1680.
Soon after the permission of card games, Russia began its own production of playing cards. Already in 1765, the government of Catherine II established a tax on both imported playing cards and domestically produced cards, and the duty on foreign cards was twice as high. The printing of playing cards in Russia was farmed out, i.e. was in private hands and brought decent incomes to tax farmers, who sold an average of about one million decks a year. The money received as a result of taxes went to the benefit of Orphanages. And on the lands of the family estate of the Vyazemsky princes (P.A. Vyazemsky - one of the descendants of this ancient family - was a close friend of A.S. Pushkin), near the village of Aleksandrovo near St. Petersburg, Abbot Ossovsky, having received financial assistance from the government, built in 1798 year of the building of the Alexander Manufactory, which at the beginning of the 19th century became one of the largest enterprises in Russia. After a year of work, the manufactory was transferred to the treasury and was donated by Paul I to the Orphanage. In 1817, the manager of the manufactory A.Ya. Wilson proposed to the Board of Trustees to open a card factory at the manufactory. A note was drawn up, which was approved by Alexander I on October 12, 1817. The government was going to make huge profits, because a factory with a monopoly on card production eliminated any outside competition. The decision not to give farm-outs, which expired in 1819, and the ban on the import of cards from abroad gave the treasury the opportunity to set any selling price for the cards.
In 1819, the factory produced its first products. During this year, 240 thousand decks were produced, which began to be sold throughout the Russian Empire (in 1820, card production increased to 1,380 thousand decks).
The new map sketches that were created did not have their own names. The concept of “satin” in the mid-19th century referred to the technology of their manufacture. Satin is a special type of smooth, glossy, shiny silk fabric. The paper on which they were printed was first rubbed with talcum powder on special rolling machines.
Let's return to our question about maps of the Pushkin era (“The Queen of Spades” was written in 1833). At this time and until 1860, on the back of the cards there was an image of a pelican feeding two children with the meat of its own heart. This allegorical sign was explained by the inscription: “Without sparing himself, he feeds the chicks.” The ironic phrase of one of the characters in N.S.’s story becomes clear. Leskova “Interesting Men”: “In order not to get bored, we sat down under the evening bells to “cut”, or, as they say, “to work for the benefit of the imperial orphanage.” But there was benefit. In 1835, a dozen decks cost 12 rubles, and were sold for 24. By the mid-50s, cards were produced three times more than were produced by farmers in 1818, and profits increased 4.5 times and amounted to 500 thousand rubles per year .
The maps of this time that interest us had the character of folk popular prints (professional artists had not yet been involved in the activities of the factory). They depicted funny German knights on horses the size of ponies, and big-headed, clumsy ladies. For example, the Queen of Spades, if she wanted, could not scare the player crazy, as happened with the impressionable Hermann. But the more obvious is the brilliant idea of Pushkin, who built the intrigue of the story on the external discrepancy between the funny card characters and their hidden fatal role.
The elegant drawings of cards without top and bottom that we are familiar with today were born thanks to the talent of academician of painting A.I. Charlemagne. In 1860, the factory's assortment expanded incredibly: cards of reduced sizes, solitaire, travel, children's, educational and fortune-telling cards began to be produced. But the more intensively production developed, the more “archaic” the drawings on the cards looked in the taste of folk primitiveness.
Being a historical painter and battle painter, A.I. Charlemagne tries himself in different areas of art. He makes illustrations for the works of A.S. Pushkin and other famous writers, makes sketches for the Imperial Porcelain Factory and, in addition, creates originals for playing cards. The merit of the artist lies in the fact that he, a talented draftsman and an expert on history, managed to find the right tone in solving the figurative structure of all the cards. Thanks to him, playing cards began to be distinguished by their unique style and integrity of image-symbols.
The factory's products were successfully demonstrated at the World Industrial Exhibitions in Paris in 1867 and 1878. In 1893, playing cards with Charlemagne's designs were presented at the Chicago World's Fair and received a bronze medal and an honorary diploma.
The new map sketches that were created did not have their own name and were not called Atlas. The very concept of “satin” in the mid-19th century did not refer to the design or special style of cards, but to the technology of their production. The word itself called satin then, and even now, it refers to a special type of smooth, glossy, shiny silk fabric. The paper from which cards were made back then was rough, with spots and stains, poorly glued, and often had different thicknesses in the sheet. To give the cards an improved appearance, the paper on which they were printed was first rubbed with talcum powder on special rolling machines, the operation of which was extremely harmful to health. Cards made on satin paper were not afraid of moisture, glided well when shuffled and were more expensive. In 1855, a dozen decks of satin cards cost 5 rubles 40 kopecks, on par with gold-edged cards made by hand for the imperial court.
A.I. Charlemagne. Solitaire playing cards.1862.
Charlemagne's drawings were used in the production of satin maps, first and second grade maps, as well as "Extra" maps already in the 30s of the 20th century. Gradually, all card products began to be produced on satin paper, and the name Satin was firmly attached to Charlemagne cards. In the “Price Courant of Retail Prices for 1935” of the State Card Monopoly, which was administered by the People’s Commissariat of Finance, a deck of “Satin” cards of 52-53 cards cost 6 rubles.
An interesting question - who was the prototype of the card characters? Russian card figures are anonymous, but the French cards that served as the basis for Charlemagne's work have their exact names, which were and are still written directly on the cards. Charlemagne, king of the Franks, led the suit of hearts; shepherd, singer and Hebrew king David - peak; Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great were given the suit of diamonds and clubs. The queen of hearts was the heroine of the biblical legend Judith, and the especially famous queen of spades in Russia was the Greek goddess of wisdom and war, Pallas Athena. The suit of diamonds has traditionally been associated with wealth; the symbol of the suit of diamonds itself, which we are accustomed to seeing in the form of a rhombus, is still called “diamond” - diamond.
Travel playing cards. 1870s Based on the originals by A.I. Charlemagne St. Petersburg. Card factory at the Imperial Orphanage. Collection of A.S. Perelman
In the 16th century, the lady of the tambourine was given the features of Rachel, the heroine of the biblical legend about the life of Jacob. According to legend, she was a greedy woman, which was quite consistent with her new card position. The image of the queen of clubs has become collective. They began to portray her as, in modern terms, a sex bomb, to which the nickname Argina, the regal one, firmly stuck. This word became so popular that all the queens, as well as the favorites and mistresses of the French kings, were called by this name behind their backs. In the form of jacks, Etienne de Vignelles, a knight from the time of Charles VII (hearts), the noble Ogier of Denmark (spades), one of the knights of the Round Table, Hector de Mare (diamonds), and finally Sir Lancelot himself, the senior knight of the Round Table (clubs), went down in history. During the time of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Russian players also called cards by name. The poet V.I. Maikov in the poem “The Ombre Player” boldly throws Ogier, a jack of spades, onto the table.
From the end of the 18th century, a real card boom began, sweeping the entire Russian culture. For example, in his youth, Derzhavin lived mainly on money won at cards, and Pushkin in police reports was listed not as a poet, but as “a well-known banker in Moscow.” Gambling Nekrasov and Dostoevsky often lost their last kopecks, but the cautious Turgenev preferred playing “for fun.” In the secular society of that time, especially provincial ones, almost the only entertainment was cards and the scandals associated with them.
A.E. Beideman Playing cards. Paper, watercolor, ink, pen
Gradually, card games were divided into commercial ones, based on clear mathematical calculations, and gambling games, where chance ruled everything. If the first (vint, whist, preference, bridge, poker) established themselves among educated people, then the second (seka, “point”, shtoss and hundreds of others, right down to the harmless “throw-up fool”) reigned supreme among the common people.
Traditional deck. Italy
In the West, “mental” card games that train logical thinking have even been included in the school curriculum. However, cards began to be used for completely non-intellectual activities. If they depict naked girls, there is no time for bridge. But this is a completely different game.
It must be said that over the centuries there have been many people who want to modernize card images, replacing them with animals, birds, and household items. For political purposes, decks were produced where Napoleon or the German Emperor Wilhelm acted as kings. And in the USSR, during the NEP years, there were attempts to depict workers with peasants on maps and even introduce new colors - “sickles”, “hammers” and “stars”. True, such amateur activity was quickly stopped, and maps were stopped printing for a long time as “attributes of bourgeois decay.”
So, what cards do we usually play now?
A.I. Charlemagne. Playing cards. Cardboard, ink, pen, watercolor, gouache. Collection of A.S. Perelman
1875 Atlas maps made according to the sketch of A. Charlemagne
Drawings of card figures with Charlemagne's monogram are made in the full size of a card deck. Created by order of a card factory in the 1860s - 1870s and still remain the most famous and popular card designs in Russia.
Sources
http://ta-vi-ka.blogspot.com/
http://www.jokercards.ru
http://lizi-black.com
Playing cards- first of all, it is an unsurpassed entertainment tool. All kinds of card games, tricks and tricks with cards, and don't forget about fortune telling with cards. All this, by and large, is intended to cheer us up, lift our spirits, and help us relax. Even if not for long, we are plunging into something unknown to us until now.
I would like to hope that fans of the world of maps will agree with this description. After all, an ordinary deck of playing cards is like a box full of secrets. Once you print it out, there will be no end to the puzzles, riddles, and tricks. This little box contains so many secrets for an inquisitive mind that they will last a lifetime. And the beauty is that everyone can learn (if they want) these card secrets.
And as always, the most important secret that arises before the researcher of the card universe is - where and how?
Where did playing cards come from and how did they appear?
To be honest, do you know the answer? In many cases, you can hear three possible answers.
First: the playing cards came from a deck of Tarot cards. This is a generally accepted opinion and has a right to exist.
Second option: “You don’t have to know to love.” Well, that’s quite a worthy phrase to avoid answering and change the subject.
Well, the third option, which I heard: “In general, no, but who needs it?” In general, answering a question with a question is bad form. But still...
Why know the history of playing cards?
Knowledge is power (power, money, fame, success - underline as necessary) And the point here is not in possessing information for the sake of information itself. And how this information (knowledge) can be used. A person who has in-depth knowledge of any issue always gives the impression of an erudite and educated interlocutor.
Even short a story about the origin of playing cards may play a role. It will show you as a well-rounded personality and a well-read person, and not as a gambler fixated only on the game.
Or imagine how well the story of the origin of playing cards can be woven into your performance before an audience when performing magic tricks. Fill a pause, entertain the audience during a change of scenery.
And if anyone is interested in fortune telling with cards, then you can always add a little mysticism with your story about playing cards. In general, if there was knowledge, and how to apply it, everyone would have enough ingenuity.
So, actually about the origin of playing cards.
The ancestor of modern playing cards, in the form in which they are familiar to us today, can be considered a deck of Tarot cards. Around the Middle Ages, the 52 minor arcana were separated from the main deck by ordinary people.
Note: The first book about the Tarot deck appeared in Venice in 1575.
Over time, they lost touch with the major arcana. And they have already begun to be perceived as something sufficient in itself. Having lost its mystery and significance in the eyes of an ordinary person. They have changed little in any way, reaching our time. And everything, just as then, is used for card games, when demonstrating tricks and card tricks, and fortune telling.
The deck of Tarot cards itself originates in ancient Egypt. And according to experts, in the field of esotericism it contains secret knowledge. This knowledge was encrypted using drawings. To pass on to future generations of initiates.
Note: Arcanum means mystery in Latin. And the word Tarot is very consonant with the ancient Egyptian “Ta-Rosh” - the Path of Kings.
This whole theory of the origin of playing cards is very convincing and has a well-informed and visual basis.
But there are a number of interesting theories that offer their own version origin of playing cards.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Stuart Kulin, an American researcher who devoted a lot of time to studying the history of games, made several interesting conclusions. Which concerned the history of the appearance of playing cards.
According to his research, the first maps on earth appeared in ancient China. And although they had most of the features of modern playing cards, they were of little use for playing. These were strips of oiled paper from twenty to one hundred and fifty centimeters in length. And 1.25 cm wide. There was always some kind of drawing on the back.
But even then this set resembled a deck. It included eight suits: man, fish, crow, pheasant, antelope, star, rabbit and horse. Each suit was divided by ten stripes of different lengths.
The earliest mention of maps is in scrolls from the Tang Dynasty, which is 600 AD. And these were already cards made of high quality paper. With more convenient sizes to hold in your hands. In addition, the drawings themselves had marks relating them to one or another suit.
Much later, foreign travelers and merchants would bring these drawings to Europe as oriental exotica. Then other Europeans will copy these drawings onto their playing cards. And then time transforms them into kings, queens and jacks. Digital symbols were then located on the other side of the map. In the form of circles. Six circles meant six.
Note: Maybe this is where the Dominican monks got their idea of creating dominoes.
Another theory of the origin of playing cards was published by professor of Arabic studies Thomas Hyde in 1694 in a scientific work entitled “Mandragorias” - Mandragora Game. He gave several samples in the form of painted paper and cardboard ovals. Which strongly resembled the playing cards of that time. Also in this monograph, the definition of “Chinese chess cards” was first introduced.
The theory of the origin of playing cards number three is very interesting, visual and quite convincing.
Its author was Katrina Hargrave, an American researcher of card games. She suggested that India was where playing cards originated. This happened in 800 AD. And this was not a mixture of cards and chess, but a completely separate phenomenon.
To support her theory, she gave a detailed description of Indian playing cards of that time. The material for production could be wood fiber or cotton paper. In rare cases, ivory was used.
The game was called "Ganjifa". The game was played using a deck that could contain from 8 to 10 suits. Each suit had ten digital cards and two special ones. One of these special cards contained a drawing of the incarnation of the Indian god Vishnu. And the second special card illustrated one of the stories during this incarnation. What made these cards unique was their shape. These were discs ranging in size from 2 to 4 cm.
In our opinion, these are the most understandable versions of the origin of playing cards, with a good evidence base.
As always, we leave what to do next with this knowledge to the discretion of our respected reader. Maybe someone will want to study the voiced theories in more detail. And personally familiarize yourself with the works of the mentioned researchers.
Or, for example, during an argument about where playing cards came from. If anyone tries to make a joke by pointing to the “made in” inscription on the deck packaging. It would not be amiss to show the difference between wit and wit, supported by good knowledge of the issue.
There is no exact version of the appearance of playing cards. They were attributed to China, Egypt, India, and European states. Most researchers are inclined to believe that they appeared in the 12th century in China, where small allegorical pictures with animals and birds, which were originally a way of transmitting secret messages, eventually transformed into a game...
The Chinese version of the origin of the cards is rejected because they are too unusual for us, more like a game of dominoes.
In Ancient Egypt, they played with cuttings with numbers marked on them, in India - with ivory plates or shells depicting the figure of four-armed Shiva, who held a cup, a sword, a coin and a staff. Some believe that these symbols of the four Indian classes gave rise to modern card suits. But the most common version of the appearance of cards is Egyptian. In 1785, the French occultist Etteilla disseminated the opinion that in ancient times Egyptian priests wrote down all the wisdom of the world on 78 golden tablets, which were also depicted in the symbolic form of cards. 56 of them - the "Minor Arcana" - became ordinary playing cards, and the remaining 22 "Major Arcana" became part of the mysterious Tarot deck used for fortune telling.
The European version says that ordinary maps appeared on the European continent no later than the 14th century. It was banned in 1367, but people, not paying attention to the bans, still played them.
By the way, researchers suggest that the number of cards is not accidental - 52 cards are the number of weeks in a year, four suits are the four seasons. Green suit is a symbol of energy and vitality, spring, west, water. In medieval cards, the sign of the suit was depicted using a rod, staff, or stick with green leaves, which were simplified to black spades when printing cards. The red color symbolized beauty, north, spirituality. The card of this suit depicted cups, bowls, hearts, and books. The yellow suit is a symbol of intelligence, fire, south, and business success. The playing card depicted a coin, a rhombus, a lit torch, the sun, fire, and a golden bell. Blue suit is a symbol of simplicity and decency. The sign of this suit was an acorn, crossed swords, swords.
The Joker (Fradiavolo) is a seemingly frivolous figure, but initially he held a scepter in his hands, which puts him above the king. Later, the scepter began to be replaced with musical instruments.
Ace is a word of Polish origin from the German Daus - devil. It is quite possible that Daus is a corruption of the Greek "diabolos" - a dispeller of slander.
An interesting fact about the figure of the King - all card images had real or legendary prototypes. For example, the Four Kings are the greatest monarchs of antiquity: Charlemagne (hearts), the biblical King David (spades), Julius Caesar (diamonds) and Alexander the Great (clubs).
The ladies were not noted for such unanimity. At different times they were different characters. So the Queen of Hearts was either Judith, or Helen of Troy, or Dido. The Queen of Spades was traditionally portrayed as the goddess of war - Athena, Minerva and even Joan of Arc. After much debate, the biblical Rachel began to be portrayed as the Queen of Spades: she was ideal for the role of the “queen of money”, since she robbed her own father. The Queen of Clubs, in the early in Italian maps, appearing as the virtuous Lucrezia, turned into Argina - an allegory of vanity and vanity.
Jack (French valet, “servant”, “footman”, etymologically a diminutive of “vassal”; the old Russian name is “serf”, “khlap”) - a playing card with the image of a young man. All real prototypes of jacks (according to the European version) are the French knight La Hire, nicknamed Satan (hearts), as well as the heroes of the epic Ogier the Dane (spades), Roland (diamonds) and Lancelot the Lake (clubs).
It is interesting that for many centuries the so-called “single-headed” cards were in use, that is, the figures were depicted on them in full height. Thus, the cards had a “top” and a “bottom”. The first “two-headed” cards, that is, cards with heads on both the top and bottom (half-card size), were produced by Italy at the beginning of the 17th century.
Another fact is that starting from the end of the 15th century, but mostly later, maps were produced on which you can see drawings on geographical, chronological, historical, satirical and other topics, and they were used for pedagogical and other purposes.
Pictured is a map of the Western Apaches, second half of the 19th century.
Interestingly, the decks had different numbers at different times and in different places. So in Venice, the deck consisted of 78 cards, the suits were divided into cups, denarii, swords and clubs. Each suit contained 14 cards: king, queen, knight, jack, point cards from ten to six, ace of swords, point cards from five to two. The remaining 21 cards, starting from the Figurate and ending with the card called Light, were trump cards, or Triumphs. Finally, there was another card called the Fool (a prototype, by the way, of the future joker).
In Florence, cards were issued in quantities of up to 98 pieces. Graces, elements and twelve constellations were added to the usual Triumphs. And in Bologna, a small tarok was produced, where there were 62 cards in the deck.
In Russian legislation, the ban on playing cards was first mentioned in the Code of 1649; later games were divided into gambling and commercial, with a special tax levied on the latter
The tax was levied on both foreign and domestic cards, and the enterprises that printed the cards were very wealthy, as more than a million decks were sold per year. Part of the proceeds from the sale of cards went to orphanages (boarding schools). In 1819, a monopoly factory for the production of cards was opened - the Alexander Manufactory, the products of which were designed by a whole galaxy of eminent artists and won prestigious awards at world exhibitions.
After the October Revolution, the card factory became the property of the Soviet state -
The State Card Factory (Goskartfabrika) came under the jurisdiction of the Commissariat of Social Assistance and, in January 1918, began producing playing cards again. The factory then closed during the Civil War and reopened in 1922, producing cards of the highest quality.
Since 1958, the factory, which had been called the 2nd art lithography since 1935, was renamed the 3rd offset printing factory. From 1964 to 1967 it was called the Leningrad Offset Printing Factory No. 3, and finally from 1968 - the Leningrad Color Printing Plant. Interestingly, the card circulation reached 28 million decks in 1985.
And a little about the famous artists who wrote sketches of cards and interesting, in my opinion, decks of A.I. Charlemagne (1826-1901)
Charlemagne created four projects of new playing cards, one of which, the so-called “Satin” ones, became the most popular in Russia for many decades. Charlemagne's drawings were used in the production of "Atlas" cards, "1st grade", "2nd grade" and "Besig" cards, as well as "Extra" cards already in the 30s of the 20th century. Gradually, the name “Satin” was firmly attached to playing cards with Charlemagne’s designs.
Political maps (France, 19th century)
Geographical maps of Russia with images of coats of arms, costumes and the designation of miles from two capitals for the benefit of youth." 1830. Author-compiler K.M. Gribanov. St. Petersburg, Card Factory at the Alexander Manufactory.
Cards "Romanov Dynasty". 1880s St. Petersburg Card Factory at the Imperial Orphanage
The Golden Age deck, first published in St. Petersburg in 1890:
"Russian Style" deck - the prototypes for the kings and queens in this deck were the participants in the last costume ball at the Romanov imperial court in 1903.
Anti-religious cards, 1926. thin S.D. Levashov
"Black Palekh", P. Bazhenov, 1937 Some of the most famous and revered cards
The rarest deck "XVIII century". 1930 Produced exclusively for export
Anti-fascist cards, 1942 Leningrad. Original author: V. A. VLASOV.
deck of cards released in
Cards "Rokoko No. 160", Coeur factory (Germany), 1973. Artist Walter Krauss/Walter Krauss.
Artist Viktor Mikhailovich Sveshnikov created a series of drawings that became the basis for various playing cards, for example “Lubochny”. Published by KCP since 1981.
Leningrad Color Printing Plant “Moscow-Russian” deck
Leningrad Color Printing Plant “Slavic” deck
Frivolous decks of cards
Deck "All Power"
