Illustrated Playing Cards, c.1740

Illustrated playing cards featuring comical engravings and rhymes about saints, unknown publisher. The hand stamp on the ace of spades would date the cards between 1715/18 and 1745. The cards are engraved and the style is a two/three line description at the top which describes the picture on the card and a four line description at the bottom which gives more details about the saint and is more comic than respectful.

“St Denis carries his Head in his Hands & gives it to a poor Woman”. “St Denis Martyr’d and when dead, In his own hand did bring his head And on a Woman it bestow’d a Fat Calves head had done more good”.

The engraving on the cards is very detailed and interesting. The courts in the left hand corners are British standard full-length figures of the period (shown enlarged at top).