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Seven scarce Italian playing cards depicting the Balkans and Greece

V Turchia Europea. [&] Sud IV. Turc.a Europ.a . [&] Sud 8. Turchia Settent. contiene 5. [&] Sud 9. Turchia Merid. contiene 8. [&] Sud 10. Turchia Merid: contiene 8. [&] Isole 9. Nel M. Adriatico all'Ovest della Turchia Europea. [&] Isola 10. Nell' Archipelago all' Est della Turchia Europea.
Bologna: Tipografia de' Franceschi alla Colomba?, c.1790. Seven playing cards, one engraved, one woodcut and letterpress and five letterpress, each sheet 115 x 60mm, with red woodcut design on reverse.
Stock #:  24361

£480.00

1 in stock

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Description

Seven playing cards representing Greece and the Balkans, including a miniature map of the country on a tromp l'oeil scroll, a description with a woodblock armorial and five with lists of regional capital cities and islands. They are from a 78-card geographical game pack which was played with the same rules as tarocchi (tarot). The map is one of the 21 map trump cards; thee of the letterpress cards are from the suit 'South' and two from 'Islands' (the other suits being 'Central' & 'North' Europe), the card with the armorial being a court card. The woodcut pattern on the back of the card is a red flower design with the address 'Alla Colomba' (At the Dove). This was the address of Tipografia de' Franceschi in Bologna from the 1790s until at least 1860.

Condition:

Slightly trimmed, as issued.

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