Liban Historique et Touristique
“Liban historique et touristique” souvenir of Lebanon playing cards manufactured by Heraclio Fournier.
This french-suited pack showing the buildings and sites of Lebanon from original sepia archival photographs is one of a series of packs made by Heraclio Fournier between 1952 and 1963. Other countries in the series included Egypt, Kenya and Libya.
Each card shows an ancient city, historical monument, building, beach or scene of natural beauty with descriptive title beneath. There are two different jokers (one depicting a “paysan libanais” and the second “une chèvre dans une montagne déboisée), and a title card depicting the abduction of Europa by Zeus in the form of a bull, with the words “Europe, soeur de Cadmus”. Cadmus was Europa’s brother and commonly stated to be a prince of Phoenicia (primarily located in modern Lebanon). A small booklet in French and English accompanies. See the box►
Above: “Liban historique et touristique” souvenir of Lebanon playing cards manufactured by Heraclio Fournier.
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
Activity for Liban Historique et Touristique
Sign in to comment or save this article.
Related Articles
Baraja Turística del País Vasco
Basque poker deck of 55 cards published by Fournier with scenic views of the Basque Country.
Monuments de Paris
‘Monuments de Paris’ souvenir playing cards produced by Heraclio Fournier, c.1964.
Souvenir Playing Cards from Lebanon
Multicoloured Belgian/Genoese pattern cards, probably printed by Fournier for Lebanon.
Souvenir Playing Cards of Egypt
55 different photographic views of Egypt in full colour.
El Desnudo en el Arte
The Nude in Art / El Desnudo en el Arte, Spain, 1977 (reprint 1990)
Gaudí playing cards
Gaudí playing cards with photography by Ramon Manent, Spain, 2002.
Multicard
A Spanish-suited pack with multiple uses including roulette and dice.
Parejas del Mundo
“Parejas del Mundo” matching pairs card game by Naipes H. Fournier, 1972.
Baraja Turística de España
Baraja Turística de España by Heraclio Fournier, 1966.
Venezuela Baraja Turística
Venezuela Souvenir deck by Heraclio Fournier, c.1980s.
East African Playing Cards
East African Playing Cards by Heraclio Fournier S.A., 1957.
Canary Islands Souvenir
Canary Islands Souvenir by Heraclio Fournier, c.1970.
Líneas de Nazca
“Líneas de Nazca” souvenir playing cards, Peru, c.2008.
Li River Souvenir
Li River Souvenir Playing Cards from China.
Monumentos de España
"Monumentos de España" souvenir playing cards manufactured by Heraclio Fournier, S.A., Vitoria (Spai...
Adventures in Korea
Each card has a colour drawing of a Korean building, museum or tourist attraction with a brief descr...
Irish Souvenir
Irish souvenir playing cards. The Joker has the inscription W.O., Dublin.
Souvenir Playing Cards
Tourist souvenir playing cards depict the aesthetic, political, social and economic conceptions of t...
Heraclio Fournier S.A.
Founded in 1868, today it is part of Cartamundi.
Souvenir Playing Cards
Argentina publishes many tourist souvenir packs, usually with colour pictures on each card, and with...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 60 days
