THE DEVIL'S PICTURE-BOOKS. A History of Playing Cards by Van Rensselaer, Mrs. John King - 1890

New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1890. Pp. viii, 207, colour lithographic frontispiece with tissue guard, plus 23 inserted plates of which 15 are in colour. Original navy-blue cloth boards, decorated in gilt and with splayed card hand, gilt spine lettering, top edge gilt. Covers and spinestrip detached from text block but present, spinestrip chipped with pieces missing, affecting the word "The" in the title, lacks endbands (if there were any?), front cover slit at the joint (hanging on by a thread), bookblock cracked approx. at centre Volume is complete and clean, as such, is a perfect candidate for restoration. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Poor. Octavo.