James English & Co.
Victorian Playing Cards manufactured by James English & Co., London, c.1875
James English’s first advertisement in 1865 lists five varieties of playing cards: Highlanders No.1 & No.2, Harrys, Moguls with Floral & Gold backs. Gradually this range was expanded as new designs were added each season, in particular floral and ornamental back designs, some of which were designed by Mr Aymer Vallance. For a more detailed account of the company history see: Ken Lodge's Blog►
Above: cards published by James English, c.1870.
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Above: playing cards manufactured by James English & Co (London) in c.1875. The cards have square corners and no indices, but double-ended courts were established by this time. Click here for free fortune-telling using these cards.
Above: four decorative back designs published by James English.
James English & Co was also using the name Peerless Card Company from around 1880.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
View ArticlesCurator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
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