Playing Card Books - Introductions to Collecting

Above: Sylvia Mann’s book, with a sample page on tracing a pack’s origin.

For those new to collecting playing cards, getting one or two good introductory books on the subject can be a great way to increase understanding and enjoyment. In this article I am going to focus on those books that would make a good first-time buy for almost any collector.

There is also a somewhat different set of reference works that many collectors have that enable them to identify cards from different parts of the world and from different times in history. I will review some of those next time.

The first selection is Collecting Playing Cards, by Sylvia Mann, first published in 1966 by MacGibbon and Kee and updated in 1973 by Howard Baker Press (the version shown).

Sylvia Mann has a formidable reputation as a founder of the International Playing Card Society and also as an expert whose research was widely appreciated and greatly respected.

This book would be a good choice for a thorough and reliable introduction. Its 215 pages cover history thoroughly and also the varieties of cards in Europe and Asia. It begins with the early cards in Europe, then elsewhere by region, and then follows trends from different eras of history. At 8.5” x 5.5” the book is fairly small compared with the others and as a result it is less suited to extensive illustrations.

Above: Rod Starling’s book, with an illustrated page from the interior.

Rod Starling's The Art and Pleasures of Playing Cards (Xlibris Corp., 2008) is a deliberately lighter treatment with more emphasis on the pure beauty of the subject – and this makes it a very accessible and enjoyable read. And yes this is the Rod Starling who regularly contributes to Clear The Decks, including articles on this website.

The book’s 88 pages show a good number of standard and non-standard cards and like Sylvia Mann, Rod follows history by starting in early Europe and moving on from there. At 11” x 8.5” it has room to show some fine cards at roughly life-size. The illustrated page is typical in showing a wonderful set, this being one of my all-time favourites, the Lawrence and Cohen Illuminated set c1863. The text gives a lot of background to both the Company and this set. To summarise, this is a short-cut to discovering some of the finest cards out there.

Above: Frank van den Bergh’s book, with a typical page showing notes and images from the ‘Vanity Fair’ pack.

The next selection Verzamelde Speelkarten by Frank van den Bergh is brand new. It is like Rod Starling’s book in the sense that it is richly illustrated and actually it’s even larger with a landscape format 12” wide and 9.5” high. This book is about Frank’s own collection, but he has not limited himself to any particular genre, so most kinds of cards are covered. Its 280 pages give room for a great volume of material and it is very well presented, in that all of the cards have been reproduced at their true size.

This book is not intended as an introduction and does not offer quite so much help to get started, but on the other hand it offers a very direct insight into a terrific collection and the person behind it. Although the text is in Dutch, my copy came with an inserted booklet with an English text. Frank is also a 52 Plus Joker member and anyone interested should contact him for more information (see the Roster page on the 52 Plus Joker website).

Above: Detlef Hoffmann’s book, with a sample page describing early French cards.

The next selection is Detlef Hoffmann's The Playing Card - an illustrated History published by Edition Leipzig in 1973. This may be harder to find but it is regarded as a very reliable and authoritative guide especially on history. It’s another larger book (9.5” x 11”) and has 96 numbered pages plus at least 60 more pages of illustrations.

It is a little less accessible, as it is perhaps less clearly organized but it would make a very good history lesson for anyone committed to reading the whole book. There are notably fewer references to American cards, but to be fair, that is probably in proportion given the focus on the early history here.

Above: The Hochman Encyclopedia, with a page from the early makers section. The centre of the book includes extensive colour illustration.

My final selection is The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards by Tom and Judy Dawson (US Games Systems Inc, 2000), now updated as an ebook. Unlike the other books here, this is not a general introduction to playing cards and collecting. However, American playing cards are of general interest to most, if not all, 52 Plus Joker members. For anyone with an interest in American playing cards this is a must-have: every kind of American playing card is included from the earliest (a decade or so post 1776) up to the 1950s or so.

This version of the Encylopedia was an update of a project begun by Gene Hochman in 1976 with the publication of two guides to American Cards – parts I and II of what became six volumes in all. Each section begins with a broad historical background to the companies making cards and follows up with examples of all the known output from the many manufacturers.

For all American cards, the ‘Hochman Number’ (like US8, US8a etc for bicycle cards) provides the definitive identification. In spite of its enormous range, it is an easy book to navigate and it begins with some sound advice on storing cards, pricing cards and so on. Highly recommended!