Primiera Bolognese
Primiera Bolognese by Modiano, c.1975
Primiera Bolognese was a gambling game played in Italy from the first half of the 16th century and this pattern derives from that period or even earlier. As it is now produced as a double-ended deck, some archaic features have been chopped off. Originally it had maids instead of jacks in cups and coins (a feature shared in Florentine Minchiate) and it also shares court card designs with Tarocco di Bologna. The dragon head on the ace of swords can still be seen. See the Box►
By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.
His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.
Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.
Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.
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