* Playing cards and card games. American Playing Cards, New York: A. Dougherty, circa 1878, four complete decks each of 52 colour lithographed playing cards (French suits), double-ended courts, each AS with 'American playing Cards' and maker's details, no indices, rounded corners, two decks with versos of 4 large flowers with foliage and 4 smaller flowers, one deck in blue the other brown, the other 2 decks with versos of an ornamental pattern incorporating foliage and birds etc., one deck in blue, the other brown, each card 88 x 63 mm, contained together in an unrelated Rubicon Bezique box, with De la Rue Bezique marker and Rules leaflet, together with: Besançon Tarot, France: B.P. Grimaud, circa 1900, 77 (of 78, with facsimile trump XVIII) colour lithographed playing cards (Italian suits), comprising 4 suits of 14, each with pip cards 1-10 and 4 single figure court cards, Republique Francaise (1890) tax stamp on ace of coins, Arnoult 1748 on two of coins, plus 22 trump cards: 21 trumps (bearing Roman numerals I-XXI at head, and title of card at foot) and Fool card, maker's name on most trumps and courts, dusty, some toning and spotting, most pip and court cards with pencilled French suit sign at one end, occasional pale brown marks, trump III with crease, cavalier of swords with cracked surface along horizontal crease (near foot), versos plain brown, each card 119 x 62 mm, plus: Schwarzer Peter, Germany, Nürnberg: J.W. Spear & Söhne, circa 1905, 32 (of 33, without one mountaineer) colour lithographed cards, comprising one Schwarzer Peter card, depicting a caricatured black man with top hat, white tie and red tailcoat, and 16 pairs of cards, each pair depicting a man and a woman (except the 'top hat' pair which have children) undertaking various sports and pastimes, including tennis, ice-skating, delivering post, fencing, skiing, serving food or beer, in traditional German costume, etc., worn with a few tears and creases, Schwarzer Peter with corner loss, inner part only of original box (defective), front panel with image of feet and long legs on yellow, J.W.S. & S. to lower right, and: Florentine Pattern, Italy, Florence: Chiari, circa 1870, 44 (of 52, without all heart courts, QD, JC, AH, and 7 & 8C) hand-coloured lithographed playing cards (French suits), single-figure courts (Mann's 'Florence I' pattern), maker's name on JS, soiled, some stains (mainly to pip cards), rounded corners, versos blue 'cells' (some surface losses), each card 98 x 65 mm, with approximately 94 other decks of playing cards, 9 decks of card games, 3 playing card-related books, and two packs of cartomancy cards, including a 19th century probably Austrian cartomancy deck of 32 colour lithographed cards (unnumbered, in original box), various conditions, many complete, some incomplete, many with original boxQTY: (Approximately 112)NOTE:First item: Hochman AD14. One of the last no-indices decks issued by Dougherty, the ace of spades design was used for the subsequent Indicator series.Second item: Cary, FRA 159.Third item: An early edition, before the company address and logo 'Spear-Spiel' were added to the box, and with adult characters instead of children as in later editions.The other decks include: Dougherty's Climax playing cards No.14, circa 1910; Dondorf's Empire design No.172, original box states The Imperial pack ... E.Hamilton, London, 1894-1903; two packs with images of nude women, one with versos What the Butler Saw (lacking 3 cards); a complete deck of Nederlandsche Speelkaartenfabriek Dietsche Kaart, circa 1912, heraldic aces; A Waddington's advertising deck for Lingfords Baking Powder, in unopened tax wrapper (with box); 5 decks advertising alcoholic beverages and 12 advertising tobacco products; a Goodall deck for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, designed by John Leighton; the other packs including advertising, non-standard and standard decks from England, Germany, France, Italy, USSR, etc.
