View Full Version : Samuel Singer History of Playing Cards
Is available as a pdf file from google books.
Many items of interest include for example detailed description of cards by Jost, of a 15th century 5x14 pack (that described as by Master PW at triomphi site); appendixes of texts by Abbe Rive, Gebelin, Mellet, poem by Lollo, et al.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZTMCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=cards+samuel+singer
Kwaw
Thank you kwaw!
An invaluable reverence to add :)
le pendu
25-09-2007, 12:29
Thanks Kwaw!
What a great resource!
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Now if they'd just publish "The Game of Tarot" as a PDF!
Books with a small market. I wonder if that is how they'll be available someday? I'd pay money to download PDFs of several similar, out of print books. If we can't get the publishers to do another run, maybe in the future they'll do something like this? Or maybe those "publish on demand" houses would be another option.
The Game of Tarot, used, starts for $300. That's ridiculous.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0715610147/
Melanchollic
25-09-2007, 17:59
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Could this be made into a sticky so that we can find this again easily??? Many thanks kwaw.
Could this be made into a sticky so that we can find this again easily??? Many thanks kwaw.
http://autorbis.net/tarot/biography/tarot-history-researchers/samuel-weller-singer.html
... click the picture to the right
or
http://autorbis.net/tarot/links/02/ ... Singer is on the list
Just goes to show, Huck, how easy it is to miss some of the wonderful information your site has brought all of us!
of a 15th century 5x14 pack (that described as by Master PW at triomphi site);
According to Singer this 5x14 deck is possibly by the engraver Martin Schoen, whose brother Bartholomew was also an engraver.
According to Michael Bryan in the Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (1849), Erhard Schoen was probably related to these brothers. Erhard Schoen engraved a horoscope with figures representing the houses similar to several tarot figures.
Kwaw
According to Singer this 5x14 deck is possibly by the engraver Martin Schoen, whose brother Bartholomew was also an engraver.
According to Michael Bryan in the Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (1849), Erhard Schoen was probably related to these brothers. Erhard Schoen engraved a horoscope with figures representing the houses similar to several tarot figures.
Kwaw
This seems to be an older speculation, which was overcome by later research. The relevant deck is the deck of Master PW ...
http://trionfi.com/0/j/d/masterPW/
.. and a deck of Telman of Wesel, who copied Master PW, but reduced the suits and the figures.
We've a longer article to it in German ...
http://koeln-tarot/trionfi.com/
also the pictures.
It has a dedication to Cologne and Erhard Schoen was not a Cologne artist
Compare also our momentary start page:
http://trionfi.com
Funny enough: It's the oldest deck of Cologne and included parrots as suit signs. Since a few decades Cologne has real wild living parrots, which broke out of the zoological garden ca. 1970 and are doing well here in the warm Rheinland (some parks are full of them, I observed 100's or more recently), so the Master PW deck has an aspect of true divination, prophesizing parrots 500 years later .. :-)
Erhard Schoen (not Martin Schoen) produced ca. 1530 really a card deck, but another (in Nuernberg, where most the nice deck of this time came from). He occasionally made socalled Calendar-Vignetten - round objects, as the round Master PW cards and the motif of these occasionally were also the motifs of his playing cards. Perhaps from this the suspicion developed, that the PW-deck was also from him. But the general reading for the moment is, that this deck is from ca. 1500, from Cologne and from Master PW. About Martin Schoen I don't know anything. In Internet I found that "Schoen Martin" (means the "nice Martin") or "Huebsch Martin" (also "nice Martin") was a second name for Martin Schongauer, who was earlier (before Dürer) and not contemporary to Erhard Schoen. Naturally the engraver theories develop with the times, now we're 190 years after Singer.
http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9066203/Martin-Schongauer
This seems to be an older speculation, which was overcome by later research.
Certainly there are other authorities who disagree with Singer’s attribution to Martin Schoen (Schongaur). And one is more inclined to favour more upto date research.
He first references the deck on p.45
“Among other very curious Cards in the collection of Mr. Douce, is part of a pack of which the second plate affords specimens : the suits, five in number, are Hares, Parrots, Pinks, Roses, and Columbines: there are four figured cards to each suit, King, Queen, and two Landsknechte, or Knaves; one probably intended for the King's, and the other the Queen's attendant. The numerical cards in each suit appear to have been ten in number, (1) the disposition of the objects on them, is singularly fanciful and ingenious. The animals and figures are very artist-like, and they are engraved in a superior manner. From the evidence of style, they should seem to be by Martin Schoen; and the costume of the figures, which belongs to the fifteenth century, seems conclusively to establish the fact.”
(1) BAHTSCH, in his Peintre Grareur, vol. x. p. 7O. has described sixty-five of the figured cards but as he had never seen any tens among those which had come under his cognizance, he erroneously concludes that one of the figured cards represented that number, notwithstanding Heinecken had asserted that tens were found in the pack. Bartsch does not seem to have been aware of the augmentation of the figured cards in the game of Tarocco, to which I am strongly inclined to suspect that these cards belong. It will be evident, that as there are five suits, of fourteen cards each, the number of the pack would be, when complete, seventy. They were made at Cologne, and possibly were are of as early date as 1470. Mr. Ottley is in possession of some round prints, by Martin Schoen, of the same size and style of execution; which appear to have been intended for a species of Heraldic Cards, as they consist of figures holding shields whereon are various coats of arms.
It has a dedication to Cologne and Erhard Schoen was not a Cologne artist.
Singer himself mentions it to be from Cologne, he does not suggest it is by Erhard who, though he may have been of the same family as Martin would have been of a different generation.
Singer returns to the subject of this deck again on p.205:
“Among the earliest as well as most elegant specimens of engraved cards executed in the fifteenth century, is the pack before adverted to at page 45, as in the possession of Mr. Douce, and which are there said to resemble the works of Martin Schoen; they are interesting, not only as specimens of the ingenuity exercised in inventing varieties of ornamental cards at this period, but as examples of the high pitch of perfection to which the graphic art had attained soon after its invention. These cards consist of Five suits; hares, parrots, pinks, roses, and columbines: each suit has four figured or court cards; King, Queen, Knight, and Knave, so that a complete pack would consist of seventy cards, of which we have only seen thirty-six. Bartsch has given descriptions of such of them as he had seen, but he does not attempt to decide upon the artist who engraved them, merely calling them the work of an anonymous artist of the fifteenth century. The ingenuity displayed in the arrangement of the objects upon the numerical cards, will be sufficiently apparent from the four of parrots and nine of rabbits, which are exhibited among our specimens in the second plate of engraved cards; and an idea of the figured cards may be obtained from the Knave of rabbits and of parrots given in the same plate: four more of these cards are copied in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, but his copies do not afford so correct a representation of the style of the engraver as the very excellent facsimiles which Mr. Swaine has executed for this work. Mr. Douce's specimens are fortunately accompanied by the frontispiece or wrapper intended for these cards, consisting of three crowns, emblematic of Cologne, and a scroll upon which we read SALVE. FELIX. COLOGNIA. so that whoever was the artist, it appears he was then resident in that city.”
Erhard Schoen (not Martin Schoen) produced ca. 1530 really a card deck, but another (in Nuernberg, where most the nice deck of this time came from). He occasionally made socalled Calendar-Vignetten - round objects, as the round Master PW cards and the motif of these occasionally were also the motifs of his playing cards. Perhaps from this the suspicion developed, that the PW-deck was also from him. But the general reading for the moment is, that this deck is from ca. 1500, from Cologne and from Master PW. About Martin Schoen I don't know anything. In Internet I found that "Schoen Martin" (means the "nice Martin") or "Huebsch Martin" (also "nice Martin") was a second name for Martin Schongauer, who was earlier (before Dürer) and not contemporary to Erhard Schoen. Naturally the engraver theories develop with the times, now we're 190 years after Singer.
Again, it is Martin Schoen, not Erhard Schoen, that Singer suggests, rightly or wrongly, to have been the artist. I merely mentioned Erhard in passing as interesting, in being of the same family [of a later generation) and also associated with playing cards and also a horoscope with figures such as can be found on tarot trumps.
Of Martin Schoen John Gould’s Biographical Dictionary of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and Architects (1838)says:
"SCHOEN (Martin), an old German engraver, born about the year 1420. This venerable artist, who was at the same time a painter, an engraver, and a goldsmith, may be considered the father of the German school of engraving. Of his performances as a painter little is known. In the church of Le ; Hospital, at Colmar, are preserved two of his pictures, representing the Nativity, and the Adoration of the I Magi, both of which subjects he also engraved. If he was not the earliest of the German engravers, he began to practice the art when it was in its very infancy, and carried the mechanical part of it to an astonishing degree of perfection. Although his I drawing is incorrect, and his compositions partake of the stiffness and formality of the earliest works of the early German artists, his productions prove him to have possessed a fertile imagination, and exhibit both genius and judgment. In his print of the Death of the Virgin, there is a fine expression in the heads, and the accessories are finished with a beauty and delicacy of execution which has scarcely been surpassed."
Kwaw
Of Martin Schoen John Gould’s Biographical Dictionary of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and Architects (1838)says:
"SCHOEN (Martin), an old German engraver, born about the year 1420. This venerable artist, who was at the same time a painter, an engraver, and a goldsmith, may be considered the father of the German school of engraving. Of his performances as a painter little is known. In the church of Le ; Hospital, at Colmar, are preserved two of his pictures, representing the Nativity, and the Adoration of the I Magi, both of which subjects he also engraved. If he was not the earliest of the German engravers, he began to practice the art when it was in its very infancy, and carried the mechanical part of it to an astonishing degree of perfection. Although his I drawing is incorrect, and his compositions partake of the stiffness and formality of the earliest works of the early German artists, his productions prove him to have possessed a fertile imagination, and exhibit both genius and judgment. In his print of the Death of the Virgin, there is a fine expression in the heads, and the accessories are finished with a beauty and delicacy of execution which has scarcely been surpassed."
The Gould entry above is extracted from Michael Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, which adds in greater detail:
It is now settled that the name of this artist was Martin Schongauer, but it is not equally certain whether he was a native of Culmbach, Colmar, or Augsbourg, or what were the precise years of his birth and death. It must, however, be apparent to every one who has perused the accounts that have been written concerning him since the publication of Bryan's Dictionary, that the dates given above are erroneous. It is surprising that Bryan should have overlooked the statement by Bartsch in vol. vi of " Le Peintre Graveur," published in 1803, ( eight years previous to his own work,) and rely on that of Huber. Zani and Bartsch place Martin Schongauer's birth in or about 1445; but Ottley, with still greater probability, places it in 1453. They all concur that he died in 1499. When it was a question of the priority of the discovery of engraving, it suited the theories of the disputants to carry back to as remote a period as any plausible circumstance would seem to justify, the date at which their respective countrymen flourished, on whom they were disposed to confer the honour ; in most instances, however, conjecture has been substituted for fact. When inquirers like Zani, Bartsch, and Ottley investigate the several claims, whatever may be their predilections, they are not easily misled by possibilities, or even probabilities, but apply such tests as must decide the question one way or other, or show that discovery is almost hopeless. In justice to Huber it must be mentioned, that he was the first writer who excited a doubt of the correctness of the dates respecting Schongauer. In the first volume of his " Manuel des Curieux et des Amateurs de l'Art," he states " that one of his friends, M. de Lerse, a great connoisseur in whatever related to the fine arts, had informed him that during some stay which he made at Colmar, he had had occasion to search the ancient manuscripts preserved there, which treat of Schoen and his family ; and that it appeared from these documents that he had lived longer than was commonly believed." The portrait of Martin Schongauer, engraved by Bartsch and prefixed to the sixth volume of " Le Peintre Graveur," was taken from a painting formerly at Nuremberg, afterwards in the collection of Count Fries, and now at Schleisshcim, or Munich, on which is inscribed Hinsch Martin Schongatter ifaler 1483 ; and in the picture is an escutcheon of arms, bearing a crescent gules on a field argent. On the back of the picture is written in old German to the following purport : " Master Martin Schongauer, painter, called Hipsch (handsome) Martin, on account of his art, born at Colmar, but of a citizen family of Augsbourg. Noble by origin, &c. Died at Colmar the year 1499, the 2nd of February. May God shew him mercy. And I, Hans Largk- mair, was his disciple in the year 1488." The print, to those accustomed to examine portraits bv the old German masters, would not indicate a person beyond the age of thirty. Albert Durer had a vehement desire to be personally acquainted with Martin Schongauer, and for that purpose made a journey to Colmar in 1492 ; he, however, was not gratified, Martin, it seems, being from home at the time, but he was kindly received by his brothers, Caspar, Paul, and Louis. If Martin had died in 1486, Albert would not have gone to Colmar to visit him in 1492. On a drawing in the possession of Baroa Heineken was written, in German, " This piece was designed by Hübsch (handsome) Martin in 147О, being then a youth. I, Albert Durer, have learnt that, and have written this to his honour, in the year 1517." Bartsch observes, " that all the prints of Martin Schongauer exhibit an almost equal perfection in the management of the burin, which induces the belief that he had not commenced engraving on copper, or rather that he had not taken (preserved) proofs till after he had acquired» bv great practice in ornamenting plate, a thorough command of the instrument; for it is said that be united the art of the goldsmith with that of the painter." On this Ottley remarks, " If the truth of this observation be acknowledged, it will follow, as highly probable at least, that none of the engravings of Schongauer now known appertain to a period more remote than about the year 1475; at dl events, there seems every reason to believe that by far the greater portion of them were executed in the last twenty years of the century in which he lived." They who are curious in the matter will find it ably discussed in Bartsch, Peintre Graveur, torn, vi., and in Ottley's Inquiry on the Origin and early History of Engraving; and in both an ample catalogue of the prints engraved by and attributed to the artist. It is related that there was a friendly correspondence, and an exchange of their drawings, between Pietro Perugino and Schongauer ; and that Michael Angelo, in his vouth, studied and copied in colours the print of at. Anthony tormented by Demons, or coloured an impression of it, being particularly struck with the extravagance and variety of the composition. With regard to his pictures, there is much more uncertainty. There are works attributed to him in the galleries of Nuremberg, Munich, Schleissheim, and Vienna; but connoisseurs are divided as to the authenticity of several. Those at Colmar have the greater number of suffrages. One in particular, the Virgin in the Rose-bush, placed behind the altar in the cathedral is celebrated for its size, composition, and excellent state of preservation ; if character be added, these are the chief tests by which others attributed to him may be judged. This picture is painted on a gold ground, as, it is asserted, are almost all the authentic works of the master, and the figures are of the size of life. The Virgin is represented with the infant Jesus on her lap, seated among roses, and two angels holding a crown above her. It is carefully executed, and the colours are so blended that the touch of the pencil is imperceptible. The Crucifixion, at Vienna, is also one of his approved pictures ; it is full of expression, if not of beauty, and is thought to participate in the style of the school of Cologne."
The dictionary is available as a pdf file from google:
http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=NfcDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA715&dq=Dictionary+Painters+Engravers+Schoen#PPA715,M1
Kwaw