Livre du Destin 33/33 cards complete
Published by B.P. Grimaud, Paris, France c.1890
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Deck: Le Livre du Destin
Description: Le Livre du Destin is a French, 32-card fortune-telling deck. The game is composed of 32 cards plus a blank card that serves as the consultant(e). William Hughes Willshire (1876) describes an early c.1810-60 version of the game printed by Carpentier Mericourt and held at the British Museum (1866,1110.647-679) as:A pique set of cards of the suits piques, coeurs, carreaux, and trefles (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs). It is intended for the purposes of fortune-telling as well as for ordinary play, but belongs to the amusing variety of fortune-telling cards, and not to the serious divinatory class.
Each card-piece has a representation of a small numeral card at its upper left-hand corner. Occupying the greater portion of the piece is an emblematic design, including full-length figures and landscapes; below is the title. The ace of piques has on it a Cupid on clouds, about to let off an arrow on some one below. Above him are two billing doves, below is the title, L'Amour. The ten of carreaux exhibits a large parterre of flowers, from which a serpent protrudes his neck. Over these are some birds hovering, and at a little distance other birds arc being caught in a net. At the lower margin are the words: "Piege ou Trahison."
Deck Identifiers:
· Style: Livre du Destin
· Versos/backs: plaid pattern of diagonal lines
· Paper: thick cardstock
· Printing method: chromolithography
· Titles: French
· Inset: playing cards
· Borders: dual black line
· Tax Stamp: Avril 12 1890 Republique Francais tax-stamp on card #16
CONDITION: fair to good condition, 33/33 cards complete; signs of wear & soiling from use; cards have edge and corner wear, and chipping of paper with lacks on surfaces of some cards and with hand drawn repairs of several cards; card #19 and #32 erroneously corrected. (see photographs)
Card Dimensions: 11 cm X 7.2 cm
