A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards and Gaming

Very thorough in the subject.

A History of Playing Cards and Bibliography of Cards and Gaming. by Catherine Perry Hargrave. 1966. I was surprised that this book is still published. I think that because this classical book has the many important information with 1462 illustrations which are current in the present generation. Viewing from nowadays, surely this book is old. The original publication was in 1930, by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. However, the construction of this book is based on the legitimate research. This is the reason, why the book is valued highly even now. In this book, the main cards of every country in the world, (from China to America, 15 countries) are studied with the chronological order. Bibliography is so large. It is useful for all of the aspects of the playing cards' world. Book of mine was issued in 1966, by Dover Publications, Inc. The pagination is the same to the edition 2012. The cover design and the place of color plates are different with each other, (but their 16 color plates are the same with). ---Every old card has a human wisdom.

Got this as a gift for a friend and she enjoyed it. How it measures up history wise I could not say but go for it.

See title of review. I enjoyed reading it, and it covers both history and region. Pictures could stand to be far less blurry but still worth the money.

I can't give this a more thorough review because I haven't had more time to review it. It appears to be a good book.

This was a reprinted antique focusing on the cards themselves. It isn't a history of the games played with said cards. It is therefore extra ordinarily boring. Unless you are interested in the cards themselves make this book qualify as a hard pass.

good read

This book is a good overview of the subject. It covers the history and developement of playing cards from their earliest beginnings to about 1930 when the book was first published. Some details are lacking, and others may not interest the average reader. But overall this is a good, well researched book that should appeal to anyone especially interested in the subject. I would recommend this book.