This text contains a treatise on facts and speculations pertaining to the origin and history of playing cards. Full of interesting information and descriptions of early card games, this text will be of much value to those with a keen interest in this pastime and it makes for a worthy addition to collections of card gaming literature. The chapters of this book include: 'Of the Origin and Name of Cards', 'Introduction of Cards into Europe', 'Programs of Card-Playing', 'Of the Different Kinds of Cards and the Marks of the Suits', and 'The Morality of Card-Playing'. This antique book is proudly...

A Treatise on Wood Engraving, Historical and Practical (1839), combines the practical knowledge of an engraver with the critical inquiry of an historian. Compiled and edited by William Andrew Chatto, an established author with an interest in woodcuts, the book was originally conceived by the wood-engraver John Jackson, who provided the book's more than three hundred engravings. Roughly three quarters of the Treatise is concerned with the historical evolution of engraving, from the Egyptian hieroglyph stamps held at the British Museum through the masterful works of Albrecht Durer to the...