Poilly, Nicolas Jean Baptiste de / Mitoire, Jean-Baptiste.

[18th century Playing Cards] Fortyfive (of 56) vintage geographical & historical playing cards, designed by Nicolas Jean Baptiste de Poilly and printed by Jean-Baptiste Mitoire. Handcoloured set of 45 very rare cards, mainly depicting France and also French Territory of the Illes Balears / Islas Baleares / Balearic Islands Minorque (Menorca) / Mayorque (Mallorca) / Yvice (Ibiza) and Formentera. There are 37 french cards, 4 spanish cards, 3 cards on Flanders and 1 card on Sardinia. The 45 playing cards include 5 cards which essentially are maps showing: Gascogne, Languedoc, Picardie (with Pas de Calais and Canal D’Angleterre), Roussillon and Valencia-Murcia (incl. Balearic Islands).

[Paris, Poilly & Mitoire, c.1763. 8.5 cm x 6 cm. 45 (of 56) copper engraved playing-cards, handcoloured. Loosely in bespoke made solander-box. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear. Extremely rare set.

Playing – Card Historian and Collector Peter Endebrock wrote about this set in an email to the British Museum:

″These geographical cards were designed c. 1763 by Nicolas de Poilly, and printed by J.-B. Mitoire, Paris. They do not have suit-signs, but instead they use different colours to distinguish the series. In addition to the usual Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten to Two, there is an extra card with a map.On the Aces and court cards are explanations for the particular country, the pip-cards show towns, rivers, and distances to the capital, the number of towns according to the value of the card.
Presumably the whole known world was described on cards like that, although in very different detail: France very extensively, Europe relatively detailed, and the rest of the world lumped together. At least 22 regions of France, 46 European countries, and 4 continents are known’” (Source: The British Museum)

• Keywords: 18th Century – Rare · France · Games · Games – Rare · Maps of France · Playing Cards (18th Century) · Playing Cards by Poilly & Mitoire · Spain · Travel France – Rare · Travel Spain – Rare
• Language: Français
• Inventory Number: 31894AB

EUR 1.480,--