Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards

by William Andrew Chatto

CHAPTER IV.
OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF CARDS AND THE MARKS OF THE SUITS.

Having in the preceding chapters endeavoured to trace the origin of Playing Cards, and to show their progress from the time of their first introduction into Europe, I shall now proceed to give collectively some account of the different kinds of cards, of the various marks that have been employed to distinguish the suits, and of the changes that they have undergone at different periods.

Most authors who have expressly written on the subject, agree in distinguishing two kinds of cards, namely, those which they call Tarocchi, or Tarots; and those, consisting of four suits, which are in common use throughout Europe. It is a subject of dispute, among the learned in these matters, which of those two kinds are of the greatest antiquity; Court de Gebelin considers that Tarocchi cards were known to the ancient Egyptians; [220] and Mons. Duchesne is pleased to assume that certain so-called Tarocchi Cards, preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi, belonged to one of the three packs painted for Charles VI, by Jacquemin Gringonneur, in 1393. Mons. Duchesne is also of opinion that these cards were the same as those which were formerly called Naibi in Italy; and in support of it, he alleges several authorities, which seem to him to be decisive of the fact, but which really prove nothing more than that Chartæ and Naibi were synonymous. [221] He produces no evidence to show that the series of painted and engraved figures, now usually called Tarocchi, were originally known either by that name, or by that of cards; while from a passage cited by Mons. Leber, from Raphael Volaterranus, it would appear that Tarocchi Cards, properly so called, were not invented till towards the close of the fifteenth century; and from the same author we learn that a pack of such cards consisted of the four suits of common cards, together with twenty-two symbolical figures, similar to those which are assumed by Mons. Duchesne to have been the original Tarocchi. Tarocchi cards—called Tarots by the French—are still used in several parts of France, Germany, and Italy; and an account of the manner of playing the game is to be found in the edition of the 'Académie des Jeux,' published by Corbet, Paris, 1814.

Mons. Duchesne calls this game Tarocchino, and distinguishes it from that played with the old series of figures, which he supposes to have been the original Tarocchi; but so far from there being any evidence to show that these figures were at their first introduction known either by the name of Tarocchi or of Cards, there seems greater reason to conclude that they have only obtained this name in comparatively recent times, in consequence of some of them being used in combination with common cards, at a game called Tarocchi, which was also the name given to the cards with which it was played. The earliest writers who mention Tarocchi as a kind of cards, always speak of them as consisting of four suits,—Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money,—together with a certain number of other cards, representing various characters and emblematical figures.

A pack of Tarots, [222] as at present used in France, corresponds in every particular with those called Tarocchi by writers of the sixteenth century. It consists of seventy-eight cards; that is, of four suits of numeral cards, and twenty-two emblematic cards, called Atous. [223] The marks of the suits are usually Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money; and each suit consists of fourteen cards, ten of which are "pips" or low cards, and the other four are coat cards,—namely, King, Queen, Chevalier, and Valet. Of the Atous, twenty-one are numbered consecutively from 1 to 21; that which is not numbered is called the Fou,—the Clown or Buffoon,—and in playing the game is usually designated "Mat." The Fou has of itself no positive value, but augments that of any of the other Atous to which it may be joined. The other Atous are numbered and named as follows:

1. The Bateleur, or Juggler; called also Pagad. 2. Juno. 3. The Empress. [224] 4. The Emperor. 5. Jupiter. 6. L'Amoureux. 7. The Chariot. 8. Justice. 9. The Capuchin, called also the Hermit. 10. The Wheel of Fortune. 11. Fortitude. 12. Le Pendu—a man suspended, head downwards, by one leg. 13. Death. 14. Temperance. 15. The Devil. 16. The Maison-Dieu, or Hospital—a tower struck by lightning. 17. The Stars. 18. The Moon. 19. The Sun. 20. The Last Judgment. 21. The End of the World.—Of these the first five are called petits atous, and the last five grands atous. Seven cards are also especially distinguished as Tarots, or Atous-tarots; these are the End of the World, the Buffoon, the Bateleur, and the four Kings. [225]

According to Cicognara, [226] the inventor of the game of Tarocchino,—or Tarots, as above described,—was an Italian, who resided at Bologna, prior to the year 1419; and the account which he gives is to the following effect: "There is preserved in the Fibbia family, one of the most ancient and illustrious of that city, a portrait of Francis Fibbia, Prince of Pisa,—who sought refuge at Bologna, about the commencement of the fifteenth century,—in which he is represented holding in his right hand a parcel of cards, while others appear lying on the ground; among the latter are seen the Queen of Batons, and the Queen of Money, the one being ornamented with the arms of the Bentivoglio family, and the other with the arms of the Fibbia. An inscription at the bottom of the picture informs us that Francis Fibbia, who died in 1419, had obtained, as the inventor of Tarocchino, from the Reformers of the city, the privilege of placing his own shield of arms on the Queen of Batons, and that of his wife, who was of the Bentivoglio family, on the Queen of Money; "a distinction," observes Mons. Duchesne, "which nevertheless does not exclude the supposition that Francis Fibbia, Commander-in-chief of the Bolognese forces, had rendered more important services to his countrymen than teaching them to play at Tarocchino."

Supposing Cicognara's account to be correct, it yet proves nothing with respect to the comparative antiquity of the two kinds of cards which compose the pack for the game of Tarocchino, or Tarots. Mons. Duchesne, however, having assumed that the old series of emblematic figures called Tarocchi cards were the oldest, sees no difficulty in the matter, but unhesitatingly concurs with Cicognara in ascribing the invention of Tarocchino to Francis Fibbia, without inquiring whether Fibbia had merely combined into one pack two kinds of cards already well known, or whether he was the first deviser of the four suits which constitute the most important portion of the pack, and which give to the game all its spirit. Seeing that Fibbia was honoured for his invention by the Reforming magistracy of Bologna,—where both card-playing and the manufacture of cards appear to have been pretty extensively carried on about 1423,—the most probable conclusion would be, that he had deserved well in their opinion, not from having converted by new combinations a previously innocent and amusing game into a hazardous and exciting one, but in consequence of his having shuffled a few moral Tarocchi into the old pack of numeral cards of four suits, whether of Swords, Cups, Batons, and Money, or of Bells, Hearts, Leaves, and Acorns. In support of this conclusion, it may further be observed, that though the manufacture of cards was extensively carried on both in Italy and Germany, before the year 1450, no so-called Tarocchi cards of that period have been discovered which can fairly be supposed to have been intended, either from their size or execution, for the common purposes of play; while, on the contrary, there are in existence several specimens of numeral cards of four suits, either stencilled or engraved on wood, and evidently of a cheap manufacture, for common use, of a date not later than 1450.

The kind of game for which the emblematic figures usually called Tarocchi cards were used, remains to be discovered. Mons. Duchesne has, indeed, hazarded a conjecture on the subject, which is equally incapable of refutation or of proof. "The number of players," he says, "necessary to form a party, would scarcely be limited to two, and probably might vary from three to twelve, or rather from three to eight; and the manner of playing might simply consist in the appropriate laying down of such of the figures as, according to an order agreed upon, might belong to the suit of the card first played. The holder of certain privileged cards would have doubtless some additional advantage; and we may further suppose that each player being obliged, in turn, to lay down a card drawn at random, striking contrasts resulting from unexpected combinations would afford a subject of amusement. This supposition would seem to agree with the subject of a book entitled 'Les Cartes Parlantes,' [227] printed at Venice, in 1545; each card there has conferred on it an interpretation or allusion, more or less ingenious, applicable to the figure which it represents: thus the Pope represents fidelity in the game and sincerity in the player; the Emperor, the laws of the game; the Valets, the service attached to the game; the Swords, the death of despairing gamesters; the Batons, the punishment of those who cheat; Money, the sustenance of play; and the Cups, the drink over which the players settle their disputes." Mons. Duchesne's conjecture can scarcely be said to be supported by the conceits of Aretine; who, moreover, in the whole course of his book, speaks of cards as a hazardous, exciting game, at which both money and credit might be lost; while Mons. Duchesne asserts that the game played with Tarocchi was merely one of amusement, originally devised to instruct children under the semblance of play.