c1712 a unique complete pack of playing cards
John Lenthall’s Pack No XII “British Cards”
Map of England, Wales,
Parts of Scotland & Ireland
and northern France and Flanders
Most of the research into the packs
from John Lenthall can be
attributed to Virgina Wayland
and the books listed covering the map making of James Moxon and his venture into playing cards.
These playing cards are based on a 1689 map by the geographer John Adair and engraving by Moxon, the only known surviving copy of this map is in the Map Library of the British Library No 1175 (119) - a restricted size scan is shown below. [ Scan - John Adair Map ]
The map covers England and Wales, parts of Scotland and Ireland with the adjacent Coasts of France and Flanders.
The map was printed on copper plates dissected into forty eight rectangles measuring 59mm x 94-96mm: John Lenthall and William Warter had the map hand coloured.
REF: British Cards
£27,000.00
They had to change Moxon’s plates to reflect
the change of monarch to Queen Anne
This is reflected in the quartered shield
More town names in Flanders’s
Some sail ships in the English Channel.
The fact that the map/playing cards were re-engraved in London and were sold at the Mitre Tavern etc
London Map-Sellers
1660-1720
ISBN 0 906430 00 3 1978
AT THE SIGN OF THE ATLAS
The life and work of Joseph Moxon
A restoration polymath
ISBN 978-1-907730-30-6 2013
“Lenthall Pack No XII
BRITISH CARDS describing the whole Territories of Great Britain by Mr Moxon
Lenthall Broadside 1716-1718”
Journal of the Playing Cards Society Vol V No: 1
ISSN 0305-2133
The suit signs were stencilled and hand coloured
and the roman numerals and the
King, Queen and Knave were added in manuscript.
The scan of the playing cards were difficult to scan and cut up so as to form a complete map which they do in fact do - see scan - Full Map.
The four aces contain information on the the 52 Counties of England and Wales
The Ace of Spades provides
“The DESCRIPTION OF THE Geographical Cards of ENGLAND with parts of Scotland and Ireland and the adjacent parts of France and Flanders defcrib’d to tabulate upon the Ace of Harts and the Ace of Diamonds
“The DESCRIPTION OF THE Geographical Cards of ENGLAND with parts of Scotland and Ireland and the adjacent parts of France and Flanders defcrib’d to tabulate upon the Ace of Harts and the Ace of Diamonds
The Ace of Hearts [ bearing the 6d Red Crown Duty Stamp ] states
The Ace of Hearts [ bearing the 6d Red Crown Duty Stamp ] explains how to Tabilate the Map – the order in which to lay the cards out to complete the whole map.
The Ace of Diamonds and the Ace of Clubs list all the Counties encompassed in the map.
Each County is listed with the Length, Breath and Circumference - miles being used as the measurement
“Lenthall Pack No XII
Exciting new find concerning the British Cards advertised in Lenthall’s Broadside”
The Playing-Card Journal of the International Playing-Card Society Vol. 10
Clicking the button to the right will reveal
all the playing cards set out as per instructions on the Ace of Hearts
Each card can be clicked on to bring up an image that can be enlarged using the magnifying glass.
This is best viewed ona Desktop / Laptop Computer
These playing cards were first advertised in the “Post Boy” of 6-8 December 1709
and later in the “Daily Courant” of 21st December 1709.
The cards were issued at a time of popularity for semi-educational theme and others for amusement
ie Love cards and Proverb Playing Cards.
Whilst resisting the word unique it is hard not to in relation to this pack as no other is known to exist in entirety though a small amount of fragments have been discovered.
Offered in a contemporary box with no lid.
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