The exact origin of playing cards is unknown, but many theories exist about their possible beginnings. It has been concluded by many stage magicians that cards were brought by Arabs from the Middle East, early 14th century to Europe via Spain and Italy. The Arabic thought is that they originated in Egypt as Egyptian playing cards bear a resemblance to the earliest Spanish and Italian decks. Luis Monreal in the Journal of International Playing Card Society, February 1989, “Iconographia de la Baraja Espanola” states the first mention of playing cards occurred in Spain in 1371. In May 23, 1376 a Florentine city ordinance forbid the newly introduced card game called “Naibbe.” There was no mention about cards in England until the 15th century first appearing in central and southern Europe at the end of the 14th century. (Giobbi)
Symbolism
Original card decks were determined to have been designed with a duality principle of life, symbolized by the colors red and black – day and night, good and evil, etc. Court and spot cards represented hierarchy underlying organization of primitive and civilized societies. Four suits symbolize the four seasons, 13 cards in each represent the 13 lunar cycles of a full year, 12 court cards correspond to the 12 months of the Gregorian calendar (1582), the 52 cards are the 52 weeks in the year, the sum of all the pips equals 365, the number of days in the year (364 plus one for the Joker and a second Joker for leap years). It is said that if you spell out the names of all 13 values – Ace to King, dealing one card for each letter, the final card of the deck will be dealt on the “g” of King. This works in several other languages, including French and German. (Giobbi)
It is said in 14th century Spain, the four suits represented the four dominant principles of prevailing society. Oro = Gold/Money is Diamonds standing for “capital”. The copas or Hearts represent cups/goblets representing the Church. Spadas or Spades is symbolized by swords for Nobility. Bastons or clubs represent political power. The French followed this pattern calling suits Carreau (Diamonds), Coeur (Hearts), Pique (Spades), and Trefle (Clubs). (Giobbi)
Johannes von Rheinfelden, a 14th century German Dominican priest, wrote a treatise that the 14th century deck consisted of 52 cards, divided into four suits of 13 cards, a new card was added to each suit along with 22 additional cards called the Triofi after the invention of a new game called Tarocchi in Italy. These eventually became the cards used for gambling and are still in use today. (Giobbi)
The Tarot Deck
The Tarocchi became the Tarot. French occultists first used them at the end of the 18th century for fortune-telling. Originally a game that was introduced into countries that had no gambling traditions, creating the myth that Tarot cards were created for fortune-telling. Decks with less than 52 cards were convenient for games like Piquet, Skat, Jass, etc but are incomplete. (Giobbi)
Gambling
Throughout history, there were various edicts prohibiting playing with cards on religious and economic grounds. Gambling, utilized cards in these games based on the winner’s reward. As gamblers wanted to increase chances of winning – then came development of the first card trick techniques. Earliest known referenced was 1408 in Paris involving a card cheat that was similar to the Three Card Monte trick used today. Eventually performers took on using cards to perform card tricks. (Giobbi)
Card Conjuring and Magicians
Earliest known description of a card trick dated to the 15th century in the book De Viribus Quantitatis 1493 C.E. Luca Pacioli, father of modern accounting, described a performance where Giovanni de Jasonne de Ferrara divined a chosen card. a boy is blindfolded, card selected by a spectator, performer lets the boy know by means of words, gestures, coughing, and position of the feet the identity of the chosen card. The first card effect described and explained in print dates to 1550 with Girolamo Cardano’s De subtilitate. Effect was the location and identification of a selected card utilizing three methods of (1) the break, (2) the key-card principle, and (3) a reference all involving mathematical methods. The first book on card magic was in the 16th century. The first detailed exposition was Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft 1584. 1593 Horatio Galasso published Giochi di carte bellissimi di regola, e di memorial in Venice. These involved applications of mathematical principles, including stacked decks, laying the foundations on which card conjuring would build over the next two centuries. (Giobbi)
Some of the most famous card conjures were Pinetti of Italy, Robert-Houdin of France, Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser of Austria, Charles Bertram of England, and S.W. Erdnase of the United States. The latter wrote the first detailed and precise descriptions of card-cheating methods in his book “The Expert at the Card Table” in 1902. Then came the infamous authors Carlo Rossetti, Padre Wenceslao Ciurò, Theodore Annemann, Frederick Braue, Jean
Hugard, John Northern Hilliard, Professor Hoffmann (Angelo Lewis), August Roterberg, Ottokar
Fischer, Conradi-Horster (Conrad A. Horster), Camille Gaultier, and Jules Dhotel. More recently the
art and literature of card conjuring have been enriched by Arturo de Ascanio, Derek Dingle, Alex
Elmsley, Lewis Ganson, Frank Garcia, Phil Goldstein, Bro. John Hamman, Richard Kaufman, Harry
Lorayne, Edward Marlo, Stephen Minch, Juan Tamariz, and Roy Walton, to name just a few. (Giobbi)
Bibliography:
Benham, W. Gurney n.d. Playing Cards – the History and Secrets of the Pack. Spring Books, London.
Christopher, Maurine & Milbourne 1996 “The Illustrated History of Magic.” Heinemann, USA.
Christopher, Milbourne “Panorama of Magic”. Dover.
Clarke, Sidney W. 2001 “The Annals of Conjuring.” The Miracle Factory, Seattle.
D’Allemagne, Rene 1906 Les cartes a jouer du XIVe au XXe siecle. Paris.
Giobbi, Robert Introduction to Card Magic
Hargrave, Catherine Perry 1966 A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards and Gaming. Dover Publications, New York (1966 unabridged reprint of 1930 Houghton Mifflin Company edition)
Morley, H.T. 1989 Old and Curious Playing Cards. The Wellfleet Press, New Jersey.
Taylor, S. 1973 The History of Playing Cards – With Anecdotes of Their Use in Conjuring, Fortune Telling and Card-Sharping. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Rutland.
Resources
International Playing Card Society : HTTP://i-p-c-s.org/history.html
Bibliography on playing card books: http://
www.cs.man.ac.uk/~daf/i-p-c-s.org/faq/books.php
Playing Card Museum in Vitoria http://watch?v=2o7c5ygCG-A
Decoding the Past – Secrets of the Playing Cards http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU9WGyU4bnM
Museo del Naipe Oropesa del Mar Castellon http ://www.youtube.com/
watch ?v=V9GVQuotD3w
Musée de la carte à jouer à Issy les Moulineaux (Paris) http ://www.youtube.com/
watch ?v=DrMWpv4Tq9o
