This translation begins a series of three notes (so far) by Franco on
manuscripts detailing card tricks, all gleaned from Florentine public
collections. This one is a translation of "La Magia bianca - Giochi di
carte," posted at https://www.naibi.net/A/MAGIA.pdf on June 6, 2024.
Comments in brackets are mine, in consultation with Franco, for
explanatory purposes. Page numbers in the left margins are those of
Franco's Italian pdf, as are the footnotes at the bottoms of the pages.
White Magic – Card Games
Franco Pratesi
1. Introduction
I present here the first of three handwritten books of magic tricks
which contain a notable part dedicated to card games [i.e. card tricks];
they are all preserved in the National Central Library of Florence,
unlike a similar manuscript book, compiled in an earlier age, which I
had recently found in the State Archives. [note 1]
I will limit myself to briefly describing the contents on the basis of
the titles of the various games, of which I report only a few examples.
Many years ago I published a study on ancient printed books, especially pamphlets of a few pages, dedicated to the topic. [note 2] I was in fact surprised that a complete book on the subject, with a rather extensive bibliography, cited very few. [note 3]
The author, Carlo Rossetti, died in 1948, but his book has been
reprinted several times without updates; I have not found more recent
works that are more complete than this one, which, however, describes
many games, but without presenting them in a historical perspective.
In fact, I don't feel the need for a more extensive collection of
games with ways to play them, because already in this edition we often
find more ways of playing the same game. What I'm missing is a
historical overview of the evolution of these games. I have read
indications of some old editions that seem useful, but I have not found
copies in accessible libraries.
It is known that today the USA is the large country in which all
these games have had the greatest diffusion and the most significant
developments. Even the Italian book mentioned above, when it lists the
literature and publishers, refers to the USA much more than to any other
country. However, the USA did not exist when these games were born;
when the first ones spread within Italy and Europe, in America there
were only Native Americans, who didn't even know playing cards.
So a reconstruction of progress both in the introduction of new games
and their diffusion from one country to another must begin in Europe,
unless we want to look even further back to the Middle East or even
ancient China. From a historical perspective, this specific literature
is of considerable interest because when one finds early writings that
describe card games in detail, the type of games illustrated is
precisely this; only later did manuals on the traditional use of cards
at the gaming table begin to appear.
In short, I lack a book written by a Michael Dummett on these games
and this has the unpleasant consequence that if I encounter a new text, I
never have sufficient basic knowledge to understand when it is a
question of truly new and original games or if in some way tricks and
procedures that have been known for some time are repeated.
So I felt I couldn't go beyond the simplest and most concise
presentation possible, based on the game titles. If, for the individual
game, the "rule" or solution is the same or different from other notes,
it will have to be checked in the manuscript by those interested. In
addition to the indices, I will report only an extremely small number of
games.
2. The book La Magia Bianca [White Magic] [note 4]
In the Library Inventory, we read “White Magic, be they either games of sleight of hand with chatter, or an introduction to the game of bussolotti [the game of cups and balls], with various joking games for pleasure and enjoyment of conversations. Ms pp. 153. Gift of Prof. C. De Stefani.” In fact, the pages were subsequently numbered from 1 to 160.
Opening the book you will find the long title reported in the
Inventory on the title page; the manuscript has its folios numbered like
pages in a book, and the games are listed with successive numbers.
Those that involve
_______________
1. https://www.naibi.net/A/CARPREST.pdf
2. L’Esopo, N. 50 (1991) 67-76. https://www.naibi.net/A/38-ESPREST-Z.pdf
3. C. Rossetti, Magia delle Carte. Milan 1958.
4. BNCF, Nuove Accessioni, 131. La
Magia bianca o siano giochi di lestezza di mano con la ciarlata o sia
introduzione al gioco dei bussolotti con vari giochi burlevoli per
piacere e divertimento delle conversazioni.
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playing cards are found from the beginning and continue, interspersed
with games of other types that I don't take into consideration.
In this case, the writing is very elementary, almost in block
letters, and also in terms of vocabulary and grammar, there is minimal
education. Compared to other collections of games [i.e., tricks], here
we notice a more frequent use of the complicity of one or more
companions, and even of the owner of the house in which the show takes
place. Everything appears more amateur and familial [i.e, in a private
house, with an audience of relatives and neighbors] in nature than
usual. There are no illustrations in the book.
It is impossible for me to propose a date for the writing of this book, although I realize that this would be essential information. The handwriting could perhaps date back to the beginning of the 19th century, but it appears more likely to be from the 18th century; on the other hand, the credulity indicated by the "secrets" would suggest an eighteenth-century environment, or perhaps earlier.
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These "secrets" are found at the end of the manuscript, specifically on
pages 132-148 and 157-160, and consist of strange drugs and remedies,
but also recipes for paints, varnishes, and soaps. It seems useful to me
to give an idea, simply indicating some ingredients of the various
remedies proposed: root of the mallow, belly of the rooster, head of the
lizard, dung of the chicken, skin of the hedgehog, and I think that is
enough.
However, one of the secrets appears more important to us than the
others, certainly not because of the prescription, but because it has a
precise reference to the source: a Sienese author of the sixteenth
century, Pietro Andrea Mattioli. [note 5]
The story concerns a hermit in the Roman territory who, with a kind of
spell, healed from afar anyone who had been bitten by a viper.
This quotation from a printed book does not serve us, as it usually
does, to be able to affirm that the manuscript text of our interest
could not have been earlier than this medical work, because there was
already no doubt that it had to be later. The problem is: how much
later? At most, one could even today find a curious episode like this in
an ancient book like this and report it, citing the source. However, as
the temporal distance increases, the probability of having an old
edition at hand and wanting to use it decreases in parallel.
It would be normal to find such a reference in the seventeenth
century, and already moving to the eighteenth century seems like a
rather long leap. One could therefore reasonably think of the date in
the first half of the eighteenth century. In particular, this collection
could precede that of Pietro Rusca's book, printed in Milan in 1743, [note 6] which presents many more of these card games than are found in the older printed editions.
A comparison between the manuscript and Rusca's book has shown that
there is certainly a close relationship between the two works. Parts of
one correspond to the latter, or almost, to parts of the other. One must
think that one author copies the other, or that both are based on a
previous source. Certainly, both authors also write a part of the work
that does not depend on the other. The indications that suggested an
earlier date for the manuscript were rather weak, and one can therefore
imagine that the compiler of White Magic had the printed book at hand,
and in addition some previous manuscripts, perhaps notes of games
introduced in person.
3. The card games [i.e. tricks]
On pages 149-153, there is a table of contents which, however, stops
at the first 56 games. I use it to summarize the content of the book,
completing it with the titles of the subsequent games, as present in the
pages of the manuscript. Each entry in the titles and table of contents
is actually preceded by "Game of,” which I do not reproduce in the
following list, where the initial number is that of its place in the
succession of games appearing in the manuscript. The number on the right
in parentheses corresponds to the number with which the same game
appears in Rusca's book. (It is possible that I have missed some of
these correspondences and that the games in common are more numerous.)
4 making all the aces come together
5 divining all the cards in a deck
7 making a card disappear from your hand or deck
9 making a card appear inside an egg (51)
11 divining the cards in someone’s pocket as many as you like
12 divining the cards drawn from the deck
14 making a card transfer to under someone’s hand or foot
15 divining how many points are under 3 stacks of cards
_____________
5. I discorsi di m. Pietro Andrea Matthioli sanese, medico cesareo, ecc. Venice 1568. Among the numerous sixteenth-century publications, this is one of the few with page numbering that includes the cited p. 1513 (as folio) in the manuscript. But others also report the episode in question. Some old editions can be found digitized online, and the entire work has been reprinted several times, even recently.6. P. Rusca, Il maestro de’ giuochi piacevoli. Milan 1743.
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__________________16 calling three cards whichever you want and having them be the ones you call
17 saying his card will be at such a number
18 divining what number a card in the deck will be at
19 3 tokens and divining who took them
22 divining how many cards remain on a table
23 divining how many points are under six piles of cards
24 making a card remain on a table
25 divining a card that is seen by 4 or 6 or more people
30 making a handful of sweets or something else appear in someone’s pocket instead of a deck of cards
31 making a card disappear from the deck by placing your hand on it
33 making a deck fall to the ground and whichever card you want remains in your hand
34 throwing a deck of cards onto a table and making sure that the one you want jumps out by itself
35 finding a card blindfolded with the tip of a sword
36 making the card pulled out come to be written on a white sheet with a pinch of tobacco [note 7]
39 making the imprint of a card come onto a white sheet or a [someone’s] cheek
40 making it that they all come out primiera [four cards of different suits, as in the game of that name]
41 throwing a deck of cards in the air and taking the one you want with a blow [note 8]
42 divining which ones are court cards and which ones are not in the dark
46 making a card from the deck disappear with a breath
50 knowing if they have placed a card yes or no by smell
51 divining a card by means of banderoline [little flags?]
59 making court cards become other suits
60 making 3 piles of cards, and at the time you make said piles, tell them to think of a card. and divine what card they thought of
61 having them touch any card and let the one they touch be theirs
62 divining a card they think of during the time various piles of cards are made
63 making 4 rows of cards of 10 in each row, going away, and having them touch a card and knowing which they touched (74)
64 giving 4 or 5 cards or as many as you like to several different people, but always one by one, then putting on a table a sign [some small object, such as a key, a coin, a pen, etc.] going away, and divining who took it
73 of the Clock
75 divining a card taken from the deck (19)
76 divining more cards taken from the deck (20)
77 having a card removed, and divining it without seeing or touching it (21)
78 finding a card in 3 cards placed on a table (22)
79 finding the top or bottom [?] card of the deck (23)
80 to remove a card from the deck, allowing the deck to be shuffled, and find it with as many cards as you want (24)
81 making a card turn over in the deck (25)
82 having only one card be drawn by three people (26)
83 having some person think of a card, then have another person take one, and that card taken be the same one that was thought of by the other (28)
88 how actually one card is changed into another (42) [note 9]
89 how to change a single card into three cards different from each other (43)
90 how to change four 3s into four aces (44)
91 making the cards of two persons change so that the one has that of the other (45)
92 divining a card before it has been drawn (46)
93 joking game of changing a king of clubs into a donkey [note 10] (47)
7. Used as an alternative to the usual magic powder for the sole purpose of setting the scene.
8. Blow from a whip or strap, but from the context [in the solution], it turns out to be a gunshot.
9. Games 29-39 of Rusca are not card games [i.e. tricks].
10. Card with a donkey drawn on it.
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As you can see, there are several numbers missing from the list, corresponding to games in which playing cards are not used. The numbered games are 146 in total and the card games are just over half.94 having one person divine a card drawn by another without seeing it (53)
95 divining 3 cards at the bottom of 3 piles before taking them out
96 making a card to be found inside a lemon
97 divining how many points are under different decks of cards, however many you want
98 divining a card just touched (74)
99 to throw a deck of cards in the air and take back the card that had been drawn in the time they are in the air
100 to throw a deck of cards onto a table, and two cards drawn go into someone’s pocket
101 to find all the decks of cards that may be in a house missing one card
102 from a deck of cards, making 3 piles and in each one find the card that has been drawn
103 in two decks of cards making the card come out of one deck and go into the other
111 finding 3 jacks together with a queen
123 arranging 30 cards on a table and divining what is imagined by two people
126 divining the point value of a card, and the card itself, which someone has drawn from an entire deck of cards
128 making cards come out by themselves from a deck of cards
131 divining a card that someone has imagined from an entire deck of cards
132 to find two cards that two people have taken from two decks of cards
133 divining 20 cards that more people will have taken
134 tearing a card into tiny pieces and then having it found whole
137 divining where a coin has been placed there being multiple cards arranged on the table (54)
138 divining from a deck of cards which of those will be a court card without observing them (91)
140 arranging 16 cards into a table and in each row there is a king, a queen, a jack, and an ace of different species [suits] in a row vertically, horizontally, and diagonally (84)
141 divining a card by means of a needle placed in water (40)
4. Examples
_________________19. Game of 3 Tokens. [In the ms., the number is set off in the left margin: see the sample pages shown later.]
Take 24 cards and give to 3 people: to the first one, to the second 2, and to the third 3; then you put 3 different tokens on the table and have them taken one by one by all 3, giving them the name tacitly, to the first token A, to the second [token] E, and the third [token] I. Then whoever has taken the token A is told to take from the cards that are left as many cards as are in his hand, whoever has token E takes twice as many, and whoever has token I to take 4 times more, making sure to name the tokens, and not the letters which must be used by you as a rule; however, you must keep them silent, and from the number of cards remaining on the table, find whoever took the [who took which] tokens. The remaining cards must not be more than 7 nor less than one [note 11]. If for example one card is left over you will take the vowels from the first word [in order]; if two are left over you will take the vowels from the second word, and so on until as many as there are of them, which vowel letters let you know which [of them] took [which of] the tokens, and the words are. Allegri Beati Ardire Respira Merita Stivale Minerva.
59. Game of making court cards become of other suits.
Take 4 cards, and they are arranged half court cards and half cards of other suits [number cards], that is, one card is half of one sort and half of another in this way [small drawing in the figure below] that when leafed through on one side they represent one thing, and turned [and leafed through] from the other side
11. The two limiting cases of the 24-6 remaining cards are in fact 18-(1x1+2x2+3x4)=1 and 18-(1x4+2x2+3x1)=7.
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show another, and keep them arranged like this for when you want to do the game, making sure to keep another card on top, face down so that they don't see the others, which are half of one sort and half of another.
62. Game of Divining a card that they think of in the time that you make several Piles of Cards.
Take the 40 cards and make piles, starting by placing one card at a time in a row, then starting again by placing another one on top of the first, and so as a rule, there will be 4 in each pile; and in the time that said piles are made, they are said to think of a card, and to say which pile it is in, and that pile is placed at the last, and you start again from the beginning making 10 other piles; with the same rule as before, ask them which stack their card is in, and knowing that it will remain on top of one of those piles, then take all the cards and shuffle as much as you want, so that since you have seen the card you will find it again whenever you want, being able to direct the game even in greater confusion.
______________________91. Game of changing the Card in the hands of two people so that one has that of the other.
Take v.g. [note 12] the two Kings of Clubs and Hearts. The King of Hearts is covered with a Club, and a Heart is placed on top of the King of Clubs, as has been taught on other occasions. Composed in this way, the two cards are placed at the bottom of an ordinary deck so that one is the fourth and the other the second. The King of Clubs and hearts are then extracted from the other deck by two people, the two
12. Verbi gratia: for example.
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Kings of Clubs and Hearts are then mixed, one after the other. Having done this, place the deck in a beautiful manner, taking the other [deck] and showing the first person the card that remains underneath it, saying: this is the card you removed, and, feeling that it is not that one, you pretend to put said card on the table, but in its place, the second card is placed, said first card is quickly removed and placed in the middle of the deck, then the other card which will be underneath is shown to the other person, and asking him: and this is your Card? He will say no, it will be pretended as above to put said card on the table, however placing the second one instead of the first. Then the two people are asked what their cards are, and the first answering, it is the King of Hearts, the first card on the table is taken and shown to be the King of Hearts; the other will say that his card is the King of Clubs, then the second card is taken and shown to be the King of Clubs. Having done this, take the first card again, showing it again and saying: so is this your card? You take it and put your hand on it, and when you receive said Card, you must carefully remove that Artificial Heart, and you must do the same with the second card. This done, you add, would it be nice, my Lords, if without touching those Cards anymore, I commanded that the King of Hearts be changed into that of Clubs, and the King of Clubs be changed into that of Hearts? Observe. To you, Lord Cards, by virtue of my [magic] powder, and by force of my Command, quickly change the figure of both the King of Hearts to the King of Clubs, and the King of Clubs to that of Hearts, and having said this you will say, let each one see the Card that he holds under his hand, that the game will be done.
138. Game of divining within a deck of cards, which of those will be a court card without observing them.
To play this game it is necessary to have a deck of cards already prepared in this way, that is: After two number cards there is a court card, [note 13] then 5 cards and two court cards, then six cards and two court cards, then 7 number cards and two court cards, and finally a number card and a court card. this arrangement must be memorized, then you pretend to shuffle the deck of cards well, which you put down with ease while walking and take the adjusted one, then you have your eyes blindfolded and placing your deck on your forehead you will play your game by rubbing the cards with your fingers then smelling the fingers as if you could sense the cards by touch or even by smell.
Florence, 06.06.2024
_____________________
13. In this position Rusca adds three [number] cards and two court cards. In both cases, it seems that the deck used has fewer cards than a complete deck of 40 or 52. Of interest is Rusca's comment that it is a valid finding “because if one does it, as is the custom for some, either in front of a mirror or by means of a companion, it Is easy to discover [learn] it.”
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