The 1861 Essay of William Pinkerton

William Pinkerton, F.S.A.

Ah, found it on Google Books.

THE LATE MR. WILLIAM PINKERTON, F.S.A. -- We are sorry to have to record the death of this gentleman, which took place on the 30th July, 1871. Mr. Pinkerton was a devoted anthropologist, and the following extract from Notes and Queries shows the general estimation in which he was held :—
"Many of our old friends must have missed for some time from our pages, and missed with regret, the once familiar signature of William Pinkerton. That silence was caused by illness -- an illness which, we are grieved to say, terminated fatally on Sunday last. To those who remember how varied were the subjects which were treated by Mr. Pinkerton, it is superfluous to state that he was a gentleman of wide and discursive reading; and if his style was sometimes a little trenchant, it was a venial fault, springing as it did from his earnest love of truth, and a warmth of heart which endeared him to all who had the advantage of his friendship. Mr. Pinkerton, who was born at Belfast on the 22nd of January, 1811, was an extensive contributor to many of our chief periodicals, as well as to the Ulster and Kilkenny Archaeological Journals, the Anthropological Review, and the "Book of Days"; and he printed privately in 1870 a "History of Hounslow Chapel", &c. He had for many years been engaged on a history of his native place, still in manuscript. His remains will be interred today (August 5) in the cemetery at Kensal Green."

Excellent. Thanks for the references. I can now start adding some of this to my game notes.

Thank you again Michael... I love this line:

mjhurst said:

and if his style was sometimes a little trenchant, it was a venial fault, springing as it did from his earnest love of truth, and a warmth of heart which endeared him to all who had the advantage of his friendship.

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I might just have to put that up in my office at the university.... My students are constantly complaining about academic writing. (Sigh... They don't seem to find the irony in complaining about academic writing to their professor who writes academically...)

Julien

William Pinkerton, F.S.A., F.A.S.L.

One more brief item, from the Dictionary of Ulster Biography.

PINKERTON, WILLIAM 1809-1871

William Pinkerton was born in Belfast and became a sailor as a young man. His life was devoted to collecting printed material that related to the history of Belfast, and he owned a large collection of books that had been printed there. He was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and was responsible for the reprinting of Hounslow Heath, which he funded.

Dictionary of Ulster Biography - P
http://ulsterbiography.co.uk/biogsP.htm

Also, elected a Fellow of the Anthropological Society of London.

Anthropological Society of London
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropological_Society_of_London

Thank you for these details. As I said in another thread, I do not consider myself a historian, but rather rely very much on the hard work that a few people are doing and placing for the benefit of all.

There is a dual constraint on the presentation of this material: on the one hand little place where it can easily be posted for general discussion and it being adequately criticised without others feeling somewhat overwhelmed with the details; on the other feeling unwelcome when trying to add to the discussions by actually carefully presenting materials found - as said in other context, it's similar to being between a rock and a hard place.

I very much appreciate those details, and skip over the sentences that seem more personal expressions of frustration as to there not being many amongst us actually doing the work from which we all ultimately benefit.

I'll have to take the time to carefully read through mjhurst's opening posts and see its relevance to those areas of personal interest. As Umbrae notes, of course, there are rules not only that change and differ over time and place, but also, I would suspect, some very regional (town-specific) rules that may never have seen publication and since simply disappeared.

I just think it's best to stay with what you know. It's human nature to talk out of your ass, pretending you know a helluva lot more than you actually do.

Yes, of course, the game described may be a local variant but we have three traits that link it to minchiate along with his own mention of the cards. If it is not minchiate being played, then I think we can be sure that it is a game developed from it, perhaps with a 78 card pack. On that point, we can only speculate.

Hi Michael, Philebus et al.,

I was also quite struck by Pinkerton's mention of seeing tarot played in New Orleans, and the term "verzicole", which AFAIK is unique to Minchiate.

Since the term is purely Italian, it makes me wonder how it could be used by French speakers. The term is adopted into French as "Brizigole" by the time of the earliest printed rules "Regles du Jeu des Tarots", in 1637 - "Si quelqu'un a les quatre hautes ou les quatre basses de triomphes, ce qui s'appelle Brizigole, gaigne une marque de chacun." ("Regle" in the booklet for the Vieville tarot, p. 12, and note 15; see also http://www.tarock.info/depaulis.htm p. 6)(translation: "If somebody has four highest or the four lowest trumps, which is called Brizigole, wins a point for each one.")

Since it doesn't seem plausible that it was "re-Italianized" by the early 19th century in Louisiana, it appears that Pinkerton is really reporting a purely Italian term, from the game of Minchiate, in mid-19th century Louisiana. It is possible that the French players of this game were using a French 18th century rulebook for Minchiate. Here's something from Dummett and McLeod, "History of Games Played With the Tarot Pack" (Mellen, 2004) -

"Not only did Minchiate spread from Florence to other parts of Italy, to Rome and the Papal States, to Sicily and Liguria: it also became known abroad. In France, Nicholas de Poilly produced a Minchiate pack with highly non-standard designs in 1730, and in 1775 an instruction booklet Regles du Jeu des Minquiattes was printed. At least two descriptions of the game were published in German. One such was included in the second edition of the Die Kunst, die Welt erlaubt mitzunehmen in den verschiedenen Arten der Spiele (Nuremberg, 1769); this was a translation of that given in Il Giuoco Pratico. A separate account, which appears to be independent, was published in Dresden in 1798 under the title Regeln des Minchiatta-Spiels (RMS); this is a very careful description, more explicit than any of the Italian ones and painstaking in its reproduction of the Italian terminology, which, however, it sometimes misspells. It is unlikely, though, that the vogue for Minchiate outside Italy was ever very widespread.

"The game of Minchiate is generically similar to that of Tarocchino. In both cases, the principal form is a four-handed game with fixed partnerships. In Minchiate, as in Tarocchino, there are scores for special combinations of cards, both when held in the hand of one player and declared at the beginning of play, and also when contained among the cards won in tricks by a pair of partners; and, as in Tarocchino, these scores swamp the points won in tricks. Both games have a bonus for winning the last trick; and neither has any idea of a special bonus for winning it with the trump I. In detail, however, the two games are very different." (pp. 327-328)

Unfortunately, Dummett and McLeod don't give an account of the French version's rules, so I can't say whether the Italian terminology was preserved, as it was in the second German account (RMS) mentioned by them. I suspect it would have, since there seems no indication that the game ever became naturalized and lost its Italian roots. There is no hint of a long independent development of the game in France, so the terms probably came straight from Italian. Thus, there is no problem in seeing French-descended Americans in New Orleans in the early 19th century (thanks Julien for asking about Pinkerton, and thanks Michael for finding the answers, because it tells us how he might have got to the port-city of New Orleans and about when. If he were a sailor early in life, that might mean he started about age 16, which would be (depending on the date of his birth, given in the two accounts variously as 1809 or 1811) around 1825 or 1827. If we give him a decade or two at sea, he might have seen the game played in New Orleans anywhere from 1825-1845) playing Minchiate with Italian terms.

It is doubly fascinating for me to find evidence of tarot (or Minchiate) in America. A while ago I asked on various groups if anyone with German ancestry in America could research family archives to find evidence of tarock coming over with the first immigrants. I suspected it would be in the Mid-West primarily. I never thought to look in French New Orleans! (Duh) I'm sure there must be other early evidence of tarot in America - or French Canada.

Ross

Abrac said:

I just think it's best to stay with what you know. It's human nature to talk out of your ass, pretending you know a helluva lot more than you actually do.

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On one level I agree with you -- best not to talk out your a** (too much a lady, am I, to use cuss words )... But, one can only learn to stretch beyond comfort zones if one is willing to ask and listen to things that one knows nothing about...

That said... And keeping in mind that I have a special non-tarot interest in the critical geography and the movement of ideas...

Michael/Ross/Kwaw, and others with more expertise:

Ross suggests that perhaps (speculatively), Pinkerton may have run into tarot in the Port of New Orleans. I've been going back through my history on tarot books as well as my own memory and thinking about places where tarot pops up. Am I incorrect in seeing a lot of port cities in those lists? Are you aware of a geographical study of the history of tarot that considers how it may have been carried in this fashion? Into ports by emigrants, sailors, and others who were traveling about (I'm reminded of another thread about Shakespeare and Tarot)...

Such a study might give more credence to Ross's speculation -- one that seems grounded and is most intriguing, with much broader implications (if true) than he gave them.

Julien

Hi Julien,

Julien said:

Ross suggests that perhaps (speculatively), Pinkerton may have run into tarot in the Port of New Orleans.

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Pinkerton himself said that, so Philebus and I aren't speculating on that point. What we're speculating about is whether it was Tarot or Minchiate (an extremely technical distinction, I admit).

I've been going back through my history on tarot books as well as my own memory and thinking about places where tarot pops up. Am I incorrect in seeing a lot of port cities in those lists?

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Yes, actually (sorry to disappoint). Tarot is mostly attested in inland Europe. The places where it is first, and abundantly, attested, are Milan (and environs) and Ferrara. It's hard to get further inland than Milan in Italy, and Ferrara is no port, although it's only a few hours on horseback to the coast.

Naturally there are a lot of big cities on coasts, so places like Ancona, Rome and Naples also have references to tarot in the 15th century.

But judging by the diffusion of the game (according to the sources arranged chronologically), the game of Tarot spread on foot within Europe.

Are you aware of a geographical study of the history of tarot that considers how it may have been carried in this fashion? Into ports by emigrants, sailors, and others who were traveling about (I'm reminded of another thread about Shakespeare and Tarot)...

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I'm not aware of a study of tarot's overall diffusion - that would something interesting. But it seems to have been more of a society game than a sailor's or soldier's game (there are a few exceptions), so we find it mentioned in that environment more. It could be argued that that kind of environment is more prone to preserving records, being more literate, but the nature of the game itself seems to demand a more tranquil and reflective environment. Tarot games are hardly ever (mere) gambling games, nor the kind of game you can play when drunk (although you should never gamble when drunk - you'll definitely lose to those whose addiction is winning). It's favorite setting seems to be urban and genteel.

Such a study might give more credence to Ross's speculation -- one that seems grounded and is most intriguing, with much broader implications (if true) than he gave them.

Julien

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Not sure where your speculations are headed, but give them a go.

Ross