Pickwick
A series of fifty-five original designs (including frontispiece, back and Joker) for a Pickwick pack of playing cards, in which are introduced all the principal & many of the minor characters figuring in the great humorous classic.
Pickwick Playing Cards ~ Charles Dickens
Invented and drawn by the artful ‘Kyd’ (pseudonym of Joseph Clayton Clarke)
A series of fifty-five original designs (including frontispiece, back and Joker) for a Pickwick pack of playing cards, in which are introduced all the principal & many of the minor characters figuring in the great humorous classic. Joseph Clayton Clark (1856-1937) worked as a freelance artist with a particular affection for Dickens, his Dickens illustrations first appearing in 1887 in Fleet Street Magazine. Kyd earned his living from watercolour sketches, mainly of Dickens' characters, which he sold through the London book trade. The drawings in this set were originally produced by Kyd in 1931 and acquired by a private collector. They were first published as a deck of playing cards in 1982 by the Navarre Society.
Above: Pickwick Playing Cards invented and drawn by ‘Kyd’, published by U.S. Games Systems under license from the Navarre Society, 1984. Images courtesy Barney Townshend.
By Barney Townshend
Member since October 06, 2015
Retired Airline Pilot, interested in: Transformation Playing Cards, Karl Gerich and Elaine Lewis. Secretary of the EPCS. Treasurer of the IPCS.
Related Articles
Waddington’s faux books
Waddington’s faux book set containing four packs of playing cards and bridge markers.
Double Dummy Bridge
In the early 20th century several firms began to promote whist or bridge as a game for two.
Ogdens Beauties & Military cigarette cards
Cigarette cards featuring beauties and military uniforms with playing-card insets.
Boddingtons Bitter playing cards
Cool-looking courts advertising Boddingtons Bitter, originally brewed in Manchester.
OXO Faces of the Millennium Dinner
Twentieth-century personalities promoting a millennium dinner at the Oxo Tower in London.
Kids Fun Box playing cards
Colourful cards for children with four non-standard suits connected with the natural world.
Tangle Foot Ale
Badger Brewery Tangle Foot strong ale advertising pack.
Scientific Whist
“Scientific Whist” : standard cards with instructions for play on the faces by Chas Goodall & Son, 1...
Agent Provocateur
Branded lingerie collection in a pack of pin-up playing cards.
Nimbus playing cards
Mike Steer’s weather-themed pack with suits in four colours and backs for cardistry.
Agatha Christie and Playing Cards revisited
Agatha Christie uses card-play as a primary focus of a story, and as a way of creating plots and mot...
The Decadent Deck
Studies in the eroticism of the female body by Inge Clayton.
Historic Shakespeare
“Historic Shakespeare” playing cards featuring Shakespearean characters by Chas Goodall & Son.
Copechat Paramount Sorting System
Preserving the past: a specimen deck showcasing edge-notched cards and their ingenious sorting syste...
Heartsette by Herbert Fitch & Co, 1893
A glimpse into a busy print and design office in late Victorian London.
Batman® playing cards
Batman playing cards published by InterCol of London 1989.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
