n, among others, of the Viscount Stafford in 1680. As
illustration of costume and of stirring incident, these cards are, apart
from their intention, an admirable and interesting series, and are worth
study from their historic and artistic aspects.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.]

[Illustration: FIG. 13.]

[Illustration: FIG. 14.]

We come now to playing cards designed as methods of education, of which
a considerable number have been produced--and which cover the widest
possible range--from cookery to astrology! In the middle and latter half
of the seventeenth century, England, France and Germany abounded in
examples, the most attractive being the series of "Jeux Historiques,"
invented by Desmarests, a member of the French Academy acting under the
instructions of Cardinal Mazarin--as aids to the education of the boy
King, Louis XIV. In Figs. 12, 13, 14, and 15 are given examples from the
four packs so designed, and they afford a good instance of the primary
use of cards being subordinated to the educational. The first of these
is the "Jeu de Fables," with representations and short notices of the
heroes and heroines of classic history, the four Kings being Jupiter,
Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn. The second is the "Jeu de Geographie," the
four suits being formed by the division of the world into four quarters,
each having its distinctive group of thirteen designs, with brief
geographical descriptions; Great Britain being shown as the Eight of
Hearts. If designed by an Englishman, it would surely have been as Queen
of that suit that our country would have appeared. We have then the "Jeu
de Rois de France," intended to teach the history and succession of the
Kings of France, whom we find depicted in their numeric order, from
Pharamond to Louis XIV., with the length of their reigns and short
biographies.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.]

The third and fourth of these packs are singular in consisting in the
one case of all Kings, and the other of all Queens, in the "Jeu de
Reynes Renommees," the famous Queens of history, from the Queen of Sheba
downward, furnishing the design, and who are classified under the
descriptions of Good, Wise, Holy, Clever, Brave, Happy, Cruel,
Licentious, Capricious, and Unfortunate; our Queen Elizabeth being
placed as "clever," and Mary Stuart as "unfortunate." They are beautiful
examples of design and workmanship, and are the work of the Florentine
artist-engraver, Stefano de la Bella.

(_To be continued