Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards

by William Andrew Chatto

Now as chahar, chatur, or, as the word is sometimes written in English, chartah, signifies four in the Hindostanee language, as it enters into the composition of chaturanga, and as chess probably suggested the game of cards, I am inclined to think that both games were invented in Hindostan, and that chahar or chatur in the language of that country formed a portion of the original name of cards. The common term for cards in Hindostan, is Taj or Tas; and its primary meaning, as I am informed, is a leaf, folium. But as it is also used in a figurative sense to signify a diadem or crown, and as the term signifying a crown is frequently used in most languages to signify regal authority, the compound term chahar-taj, or chahar-tas, would be suggestive of nearly the same idea as "the Four Kings," and be almost identical in sound with the Latin chartæ or chartas. The name, whatever it might be, would be liable to change in passing from Hindostan, through other countries, into Europe; in the same manner as we find Chaturanga, the Sanscrit name of chess, transformed into the Persian Chatrang, the Arabic Shatranj, the Greek Zatrikion, the Spanish Axedrez, the Italian Scacchi, the German Schach, the French Echecs, and the English Chess.

The name given to cards by the earliest French and German writers who mention them, is, respectively, Cartes and Karten—in Latin, Chartæ; but as Charta signifies paper, and as cards are made of paper, it has generally been supposed that they received their name from that circumstance. But if a part of their original name signified the number four, whether derived from an eastern root, or from the Latin quarta, it can scarcely be doubted that they acquired the name of chartæ, not in consequence of their being made of paper, but because the Latin word which signified paper had nearly the same sound as another word which signified four,—in the same manner as Pherz, the General, in chess, found a representative in Fierge, and subsequently became confounded with Vierge: the ideal change of Vierge into Dame, the wife of the king, followed of course, like "wooed,—an' married an' a'."

It is deserving of remark, that in several old French works, written within fifty years of the time when we have positive evidence of the game of cards being known in France, the word is sometimes spelled quartz or quartes, as if, in the mind of the writer, it was rather associated with the idea of four than with that of paper. The possible derivation of cards from quarta, was suggested by Mr. Gough, in his Observations on the Invention of Cards, in the eighth volume of the 'Archæologia,' though he was of opinion that they obtained their name from the paper of which they were made. "Perhaps," says he, "it may be too bold a conjecture that the 'quartes, ludus quartarum sive cartarum,' by which Junius [in his Etymologicon] explains cards, may be derived from quarta, which, Du Cange says, is used simply for the fourth part of any thing, and so may be referred to the quatuor reges; but as Du Cange expressly says, that quarta and carta are synonymous, I lay no stress on this, but leave it to the critics."

To carry still further this speculation on the Indian origin of Playing Cards,—both name and thing,—it is to be observed that cards are called Naibi, by the earliest Italian writers who mention them; and that they have always been called Naypes, or Naipes, in Spain, since the time of their first introduction into that country. Now in Hindostan, where we find the word Chahar, Chatur, or Chartah, they have also the word Na-eeb, or Naib, which, judging from the sound only, appears at least as likely to have been the original of naibi and naipe, as it is of the English Nabob. [30] This word Na-eeb signifies a viceroy, lieutenant, or deputy, who rules over a certain district, as a feudatory who owes allegiance to a sovereign. Now, as the game of chess was known in Hindostan by the name of the Four Kings, if cards were suggested by chess, and invented in the same country, the supposition that they might have been called Chatur-Nawaub—the Four Viceroys, as the cognate game of chess was called the Four Kings—and that this name subsequently became changed into Chartah-Naib, is, at least, as probable as the derivation of Naipes from N.P., the initials of Nicolas Pepin, their supposed inventor. Though this last etymology has very much the appearance of a conundrum, propounded in jest for the purpose of ridiculing a certain class of etymologists who always seek for roots at the surface, it is nevertheless that which received the sanction of the royal Spanish Academy, and which is given in their Dictionary. [31] Several Spanish writers, however, of high reputation for their knowledge of the formation of their native language, have decidedly asserted that the word Naipes, signifying cards, whatever it might have originally meant, was derived from the Arabic; and if the testimony of Covelluzzo, a writer quoted in Bussi's History of the City of Viterbo, could be relied on, the question respecting the word Naibi or Naipes, and cards themselves, having been brought into Europe through the Arabs, would appear to be determined. His words are: "Anno 1379, fu recato in Viterbo el Gioco delle Carte, che venne de Seracinia, e chiamisi tra loro Naib." [32] That is, "In the year 1379, was brought into Viterbo the game of cards, which comes from the country of the Saracens, and is with them called Naib." It may be observed, that the very word here given as the Arabic name for cards still signifies in Arabia a deputy of the Sultan. Even though it may not be a word of Hindostanee origin, it may have been introduced into that language when a great portion of Hindostan was subjected to the Mahometan yoke, and when many of the Rajahs of native race were superseded by the Naibs or deputies of a Mahometan sovereign. [33] There appears reason to believe that the word Naipe or Naipes, as applied to cards, did not primarily signify cards generally, but was rather a designation of the game played with cards; in the same manner as "the Four Kings" signified the game at cards, in consequence of a king being the chief of each of the four suits. In Vieyra's Portuguese Dictionary, 1773, one of the explanations of the word "Naipe" is, "a Suit of Cards;" and the phrase, "Náo tenho nenhuma daquelle naipe," is translated, "I have none of that suit."

It is not unlikely that the Greek word χαρτης,—Latin, Charta, paper,—was derived from the East, and that it was originally associated with the idea of "four," as expressive of a square—quarré—of paper, in contra-distinction to a long strip of paper or parchment, which, when rolled up, formed an ενειλεμα, or volume. In middle-age Greek, the word χαρταριον, or χαρτιον, [34]—which is unquestionably derived from the same root as χαρτης,—appears to have been used to convey the idea of a square, or four-sided piece of wood, and to have specifically signified a square wooden trencher: the top of the trencher-cap worn at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and at some of our public schools, may be considered as a representative of the general form of the thing. It is curious to trace how a word primarily expressive of the number four has, in Greek, Latin, French, and English, been employed to signify either paper generally, or a portion of paper. From the French Cahier or cayer [35] —which may be traced through carré or quarré, to the Latin quartus, from quatuor—we have the old English quair, a little paper book consisting of a few sheets; and the modern quire, now signifying a definite number of sheets of paper.

In Hindostanee the word chit signifies, I believe, a note or letter, and is in this sense synonymous with the Latin Epistola, and the German Briefe. Should it also signify paper, [36] either in general, or of a particular kind, and be cognate with chahar, chatur, or chartah, [37]—"four,"—* the preceding speculations on the primary meaning of χαρτης, charta, and cards, will be materially corroborated. I leave, however, the investigation of this point to those who understand the Hindostanee language, as all the knowledge that I have of the word in question, is derived from one of Theodore Hook's tales, Passion and Principle, in the first series of 'Sayings and Doings.' Wherever he might have picked it up, the effect with which he uses it is peculiarly his own.

Breitkopf, who is decidedly of opinion that cards are of Eastern invention, and of great antiquity, considers that the name Naibe, or Naipes, by which they were first known to the Italians and the Spaniards, is derived from an Arabic word—Nabaa—signifying divination, foretelling future events, fortune-telling, and such like. In this opinion he says he is confirmed by the exposition of the Hebrew word Naibes, which he seems to think cognate with the Arabic Nabaa. [38] He, however, produces no evidence to show that cards were known either to the Arabians or the Jews by the name of Naibe, and from a subsequent passage in his work, it is evident that the conjecture was suggested merely from the circumstance of cards being occasionally employed for the purposes of fortune-telling.

Heineken, who contends that cards were invented in Germany, alleges the name—Briefe—given to them in that country in support of the presumed fact. "Playing Cards," he observes, "were called with us Briefe, that is letters, in Latin, Epistolæ, and they are called so still. The common people do not say, 'give me a pack of cards,' but 'a Spiel Briefe' (un jeu de lettres); and they do not say 'I want a card,' but 'I want a Brief' (a letter). We should, at least, have preserved the name cards, if they had come to us from France; for the common people always preserve the names of all games that come from other countries." [39] This argument is contradicted by the fact of cards having been called Karten in Germany, before they acquired there the name of Briefe; and this very word Briefe, which is merely a translation of the Latin Chartæ, is presumptive evidence of the Germans having obtained their knowledge of cards from either the French or the Italians, with whom the name cards, when "done" into Latin, had the same meaning as the German word Briefe.

With respect to the term Naibes, or Naipes, there are two etymologies which seem deserving of notice here; the one propounded by Bullet, in his 'Recherches Historiques sur les Cartes à jouer;' and the other by Eloi Johanneau, in his 'Mélanges d'Origines Etymologiques.' Mons. Bullet thinks that cards are of French origin, and that they were not invented before the introduction of linen paper,—his chief reason for fixing this epoch as a ne-plus-ultra being evidently founded on their Latinised name, chartæ. From France he supposes that they passed into Spain by way of Biscay, and acquired in their passage the name of Naipes. This word, according to Mons. Bullet, is derived from the Basque term napa, signifying "plat, plain, uni," which very properly designates cards, and corresponds with the Latin charta. This etymology is fanciful rather than felicitous; if charta were synonymous with mensa,—a table,—the Basque term napa would appear to correspond more nearly with it. But the Basque language, like the Celtic, is one peculiarly adapted for etymological speculation; a person who understands a little of it, may readily grub up in its wild fertility a root for any word which he may not be able to supply with a radical elsewhere. [40]

Mons. Eloi Johanneau is of opinion that cards are of much higher antiquity than they are generally supposed to be; and with respect to their Spanish name, Naipes, the origin of it, is, to him, too plain and simple to require the aid of any scarce or voluminous works to prove it; it is, in short, one of those truths which, to be perceived, requires only to be enounced. This incontestable truth is, that the word naipe, a card, comes from the Latin mappa, the m being merely changed into an n. Of this antithesis, or change of a letter, several examples are produced; as the French nappe, a table-cloth, also from mappa; nefle and neflier from mespilum and mespilus; and faire la Sainte Mitouche, for faire la Sainte Nitouche. Then naipe and mappa have an analogous meaning. Naipes, Playing Cards, scarcely differ from a map,—which is a geographic card,—or, except in point of size, from a nappe, which is spread like a chart on the table. In ancient times, too, mappa signified the tessara, or signal, which was displayed at the games of the circus. Tertullian, speaking of those games in his 'Diatribe De Spectaculis,' says: "Non vident missum quid sit. Mappam putant; sed est diaboli ab alto præcipitati gula,"—"They perceive not what is displayed. They think it the mappa, but it is the jaws of the devil." It is evident from this, that in Tertullian's estimation, there was something very wicked in the mappa; and the bad odour which, even at that early period, the word was in, appears to have been retained by its presumed derivative, naipes, ever since: Servavit odorem diu. But then for the grand discovery: Mons. Johanneau finds, in Ducange's Glossary, a passage cited from Papias, a lexicographer of the eleventh century, which proves that the word mappa then signified a Playing Card, and that the game of cards was known at least three centuries previous to the period assigned to its invention by the Abbé Rive. [41] "Mappa," according to Papias, "is a napkin; a picture, or representation of games, is also called mapa; whence we say mapa mundi,"—a map of the world. An ancient Latin and French glossary, also cited by Ducange, explains the passage from Papias to the following effect: "Mapamundi, a mapemunde (or geographic map); and it is derived from mapa, a nappe, a picture or representation of games." [42] Though it may be admitted that nappe, a table-cloth, or napkin, is derived from mappa, and that the latter word was sometimes used to signify a picture of some kind of game; it yet does not appear to be incontrovertibly true, either that mappa, as explained by Papias, signified a card, or a game of cards, or that the word naipes was derived from it. What Mons. Johanneau considers to be a self-evident truth, appears in reality to be no better than one of those confident assertions entitled, by courtesy, moral truths, in consequence of the sincerity of the author's belief. A great many truths of this kind pass current in the business of life, and maintain their nominal value, long after their real character is known, upon the credit of the indorsers.