Nathan Kush

Prof.Presnell
English 1103
21 Oct. 2014

Talking EWC
What is the history of playing cards and what are their uses throughout history?
Parlett, David Sidney. The Oxford guide to card games. Oxford [England: Oxford University
Press, 1990. Print.
This source is a book written by David Parlett, a games scholar from South London. It is
written to cover the subject of why playing cards have changed to accommodate the needs of
new card games at certain times throughout history. The author also brings up the topic of
differences in playing cards socially and culturally around the world. Different countries use
variations on the international standard fifty-two card deck to allow for unique card games.
Additionally, various regions worldwide call a deck many different things such as a pack in
standard British or a korona, which translates to crown, in Russian. This topic interested me
because it covers both parts of my inquiry question simultaneously. It deals with the history of
playing cards and their evolution to allow for more uses to be possible. I feel confident in saying
that this source fits very well in answering my question and that is why it has earned a spot in my
list of the five best sources. Additionally, this source has some information that matches
information listed in some of my other sources. Being that my question deals with history, I am
glad to see that my sources can serve as a failsafe to ensure that the information that Im finding
is accurate.
Hargrave, Catherine Perry. A history of playing cards and a bibliography of cards and gaming.
Reprint. ed. New York: Dover, 1966. Print.

This source is also a book. This one is written by Catherine Perry Hargrave. This book
covers the greatest majority of playing card history that I have found among all of my sources so
far. The author begins the history around the 12th Century in China and Japan. Due to the origins
of modern paper making occurring in that region, it would only seem logical for playing cards, a
paper product, to have been invented there. From Asia, playing cards found their way to Europe
around the 13th Century. The first European decks were similar to Tarot cards. Eventually, the
Spanish developed a deck similar to designs used in modern times. This was around the 15th
Century. Europeans continued to modify the Spanish design for the next few centuries until they
invented the French design, which is practically what is used today. This information interests
me because it covers a very large chunk of playing card history with the exception of the last
fifty years. This source has a very large amount of history on playing cards that is seems like an
obvious book to include on this list. This book has served a large portion of what I know of the
history. Without this information, I would be incapable of answering the first half of my question
concerning history. Also, this sources information is supported by other history sources that I
have found.
Every trick in the book. New York: Overlook Duckworth, 2013. Print
This source is the final book on this list. It is authored by Charlie Dancey and gives some
of the more magical uses for a deck of playing cards. It covers many basic principles of card
magic and some other things related to trickery in general. Since most of this information is
intended to be a secret to audiences, I shall keep most my descriptions of its information fairly
vague. It gives a few explanations to a few well known card tricks such as David Blanes card
through window trick. This book also tells of a few quirks of the Bicycle Rider Back design and
how to use them to your advantage. Although it does not include much on the subject of history

of playing cards, this book includes one of the most entertaining uses of playing cards that
currently exists. This book interested me because it relates to magic. I originally bought this
book a few years ago because it seemed to contain a lot of information involving magic. This
source is on the list because it is one of my favorite books on magic and one of the better ones
that I own. This source adds something that most of my other sources seem to overlook. This
source applies to one of the many uses that playing cards can have.
Welcome to the World of Playing Cards." The World of Playing Cards. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct.
2014. <http://www.wopc.co.uk/>.
This source is a UK based website titled World of Playing Cards. The curators of this site
are Simon and Adam Wintle. The purpose of this website is to present the history of playing
cards through articles, blogs, and antique playing cards. This site presents a wide variety of
detailed articles about the history of playing cards ranging from country to country. Since blogs
are not credible sources, I shall omit them from this sources information. Lastly, this site sells
antique playing cards that are a few centuries old. I found this website very interesting because it
applies to my inquiry question very well in that it talks about history and it shows actual playing
cards from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries that are actually for sale. This source was chosen for
this list because it has a large amount of articles, each containing different information about the
history and design aspects of playing cards. This website contains very similar information with
The Oxford Guide to Card Games and A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards
and Gaming.
"Design Shack - Web Design Gallery, Articles & Community." Design History: The Art of
Playing Cards. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
<http://designshack.net/articles/layouts/design-history-the-art-of-playing-cards/>.

This source is an article by Joshua Johnson about the design elements that go into the
making of playing cards. It talks about the symmetry within the design of every card and how
indexes in the corners affected gameplay. Additionally, he talks about how the court cards have
unintentionally changed over the evolution of playing cards. Some other things he adds in are the
meanings of the court cards and who they might represent in history. This source is important
because it covers the evolution of playing cards by design. Other sources that I have found tend
to exclude the design aspects as significant on their own and this article does just that. This
article is on this list because I think that it covers the design elements, which are crucial to any
playing cards. I like this article because it contains information that I have not found in my other
sources.