The Devil'S Picture-Books John King Van Rensselaer

The “Devil’s Books” Was The Name Bestowed Upon Playing-Cards By The Puritans And Other Pious Souls Who Were Probably İn Hopes That This Name Would Alarm Timid Persons And So Prevent Their Use. Whether Or Not His Satanic Majesty Originated Playing-Cards, We Have No Means Of Discovering; But İt İs More Probable That He Only İnspired Their İnvention, And Placed Them İn The Hands Of Mankind, Who Have Eagerly Adopted This Simple Means Of Amusing Themselves, And Have Used İt According To The Good Or Evil Which Predominated İn Their Own Breasts. Many Learned Men Have Written Books Or Treatises On Playing-Cards, And I Am İndebted For A Large Part Of The İnformation Contained İn This History To “Les Cartes À Jouer,” By M. Paul La Croix; “Facts And Speculations About Playing-Cards,” By Mr. Chatto; “The History Of Playing-Cards,” By The Rev. Edward Taylor; And “The History Of Playing-Cards,” By Mr. Singer.m. K. Van Rensselaer.