deck-25-10

Nowadays I usually keep newly acquired decks for a couple of months or longer before I offer them for sale again. So when I write about them here, I still have the cards at hand. This time I'll have to use the scans I made before returning the deck to the UK and it feels a bit weird.

My deck not only lacks the KC, but unfortunately it came without a box too. And that box contains more information. The title of the deck is Kaloprosopion, a Greek word, which is (loosely) translated on the box as Beautiful Disguise. On the right the booklet of Field's deck and below a box from a Potter & Potter auction (May 6-7, 2017).		The auction picture of the box was shown with pictures of cards from the first edition. The text is difficult to read, but Field helps by quoting "published as the Act directs by E. Olivatte 6 Leigh St. Burton Crescent 1st January 1828". The difference with the cover of Field's booklet is apparent. The date is now January 1829 and the name E. Olivatte was changed to N.E. Olivatti, which Field explains as done for a correct pronunciation of the name. But more important, the name of Reynolds & Sons was added. Here suggested to be the co-publisher, but Reynolds & Sons were also card makers. At least, according to Ken Lodge, Reynolds was a card maker at that time. However, in his list Ken Lodge places the name change to Reynolds & Sons in 1838.

Still, I can't imagine that Reynolds would lend his name, if he wasn't involved in some way: printer?

Besides Albert Fields' Transformation Playing Cards (#15) and 2 auction sites as a source, John Sings sent me a review of the deck by John Berry. Both Field and Berry describe the deck as a pirate edition, copying all but one designs from the Cotta decks of 1805 (11), 1806 (25) and 1807 (15). Only the design of the 9 of Hearts is original. Still, the designs of this deck are easily distinguished from the original Cotta designs. Where in the Cotta decks the stipple technique was used for engraving, in the Olivatte deck a line technique is used. Field and Berry agree on almost every aspect, but Berry contradicts Field's dating of the second edition as 1829. Berry's deck had the AC and box with the 1828 date, but also the added King, Queen and Knave on the courts. Apparently Field had both editions in his collection. He shows the 2 extra cards, which came with the first edition, but also 3 courts from the second edition and the cover of the accompanying booklet (above). His explanation about adding King, Queen and Knave to the courts was that players who were not familiar with the names of the Greek legends had a hard time to distinguish the kings from the knaves. And this makes sense.

		So I tend to agree with Albert Field in this matter and put the following to you. In the Greenslade Taylor Hunt auction of September 2, 2016, cards from the first edition without King etc. are shown and it's described as a 54 cards deck, without a box. In the Potter and Potter auction of May 6-7, 2017, cards from a similar deck are shown, but only with 1 extra card and the box. It's possible that the extra cards were discontinued in the 2nd edition and replaced by an accompanying booklet. It's also possible that decks from the 2nd edition were initially put in boxes, still in stock from the 1st edition. It would explain the absence of extra cards and the presence of King etc. in the Berry deck. But maybe there are collectors who have one or both editions, complete and with their boxes.
extra card 1, Fields book	extra card 2, auction site	Your contribution here is welcome!

The deck here is obviously a composed deck. The two present courts in the clubs suit don't have their rank printed in the design and are from the first edition. Mr. Field had the accompanying booklet, in which the Greek names are explained. He and Berry have made lists of the cards and which Cotta deck the designs were copied from. I will use the minimal descriptions of Field and per card indicate the year of the Cotta deck it was copied from. The king of clubs of this deck is missing, but I have replaced it here below with the original Cotta card.
1805	1806	1805
Agamemnon was a king of Greece and Clytemnestra was his wife. The Jack of Spades shows Egiste (Aegisthus), Clytemnestra's lover, who killed Agamemnon.

CLICK THE ACE TO SEE ALL THE PIPS OF THAT SUIT.

1807	1807	1806	1807

Original Cotta card 1806	1806	1806 (reversed)
In the Olivatte deck the King of Clubs is named Menelaus, king of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon. Helen was the wife of Menelaus, but she eloped with Paris. Aeneas is the Trojan hero who escaped from Troy.


	This deck was destined to be presented on this spot. It came with 4 other decks in one "transformation" lot, which I had won in the last Dominic Winter auction with decks from the Dudley Ollis collection. Two of them were bought for immediate resell. However, I received an offer I couldn't refuse for two of the other decks in the beginning of October. This deck was one of them.