Testament [classic edition]
Testament playing cards [classic edition] designed by Ben Green, 2020.
Designed in the UK by Ben Green in a limited numbered edition of 2500, this pack was printed in the USA via Kickstarter in 2020. Labelled as the “classic” edition to distinguish from an earlier “Art” version, this pack features the same artwork but with the courts now double-ended rather than single-ended. The illustrations are a combination of hand drawings and digital painting.
The club suit shows Cain (jack), Eve (queen) and Adam (king); diamonds portray Noah, Miriam and Moses; spades – Samson, Delilah and Abraham; and hearts – Joseph, Mary and Jesus. The aces represent: the Tree of Knowledge (clubs), the Ten Plagues (diamonds), Jonah and the Big Fish (spades), and the Heart of Christ (hearts). Finally, the jokers are the messengers of Good and Evil: the former holds the Ace of Hearts as a reminder of the Heart of Christ being a gift to us all, while the latter holds the Ace of Clubs - the tree of knowledge, as a reminder that evil has always been around us, from the Garden of Eden. There is an extra gaff card (jack of spades) showing Samson after the betrayal of Delilah. See the box►
![Testament playing cards [classic edition] designed by Ben Green, 2020](images/countries/usa/uspcc/testament-1.jpg "Testament playing cards [classic edition] designed by Ben Green, 2020")
![Testament playing cards [classic edition] designed by Ben Green, 2020](images/countries/usa/uspcc/testament-2.jpg "Testament playing cards [classic edition] designed by Ben Green, 2020")
![Testament playing cards [classic edition] designed by Ben Green, 2020](images/countries/usa/uspcc/testament-3.jpg "Testament playing cards [classic edition] designed by Ben Green, 2020")
Above: Testament playing cards [classic edition] designed by Ben Green, 2020.
For more details see the Kickstarter project►
By Peter Burnett
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.
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