The Oxford Guide to Card GamesImported from the Mamluks of Egypt, card games first hit Europe around 1371 and within ten years had spread like wildfire from Spain and Italy to France and Germany. By 1420, German and Swiss cardmakers were producing packs by the thousands (first by stencil, later by metal engraving) marked with a bewildering array of suits, including hounds, bears, parrots, roses, helmets, banners, and bells. Games proliferated as well, and by 1534, Rabelais could name 35 different card games in Chapter 22 of Gargantua. Today, of course, there are thousands of games, from the universally popular Poker and Contract Bridge, to national manias such as Swiss Jass, German Skat, and French Belote. Now, in The Oxford Guide to Card Games, internationally renowned game expert David Parlett provides a fascinating historical guide to cards in Europe and America. Unlike other books, this is not primarily a book of rules or hints on how to play better, but a unique survey of where the games originated, how they have developed over time, and what their rituals and etiquette tell us about the people who play them. Parlett discusses such ancient games as Karnoffel (German for "hernia"), in which the King could be captured by cards named Pope, Kaiser, Devil, and Karnoffel (this subversive ranking was decried by civic authorities and Karnoffel was even banned in Augsburg in 1446, but it was very popular among soldiers and workers). We learn that the term "Bower" in Euchre comes from the German word Bauer (Boer in Dutch), which means "farmer" or "Jack," and that Poker comes from the German word Pocher, which means "bash" or "pulverize" or "brag" (Poker is, as Parlett points out, ultimately a bragging game, in which players boast--or bet--that their hand is best). And we follow the rise and fall of such games as Piquet, which was once far and away the best loved game in Europe, and Canasta, which became a world-wide phenomenon in the 1950s, for a while rivaling Contract Bridge in popularity. The first book to explore the history of cards in the West, this attractively illustrated volume is both informative and entertaining. Whether your favorite game is Poker or Pinocle, Cribbage or Gin, Contract Bridge or Crazy Eights, you will find much here to fascinate and amuse. |
Contents
Matching and cribbing | 116 |
Gone fishin | 133 |
The patient pursuit | 153 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
52-card pack appears Auction Auction Bridge basic Bezique Biritch Brag Brelan Bridge called Canasta capture card games card-play card-points cards rank clubs combinations Conquian Contract Contract Bridge count court Cribbage deal dealer dealt declared Depaulis derive described Deuce diamonds discard draw Dummett English equivalent Euchre face value feature five cards flush follow suit four French gambling games game played German hand hearts highest Hombre Hoyle invented Italian Jack Jass jeux Joker Karnöffel King known last trick London Manille melds misère national card game Nine nineteenth century number of tricks original overcalled pair partner Patience Pinochle Piquet plain-trick players Playing Cards playing-cards Poch point-trick games Poker Pope Joan popular Quadrille Queen Reversis rules Rummy Schafkopf scores sequence seven Skat Solo Whist soloist spades Spanish stakes Tarock Tarot games three cards top trumps traditional Trappola trick-taking games Truco trump suit variety winner