The Book of Playing Cards (1588) - Page 1

This volume is bound in a striking cover of marbled "peacock" or "combed" paper, a technique where colors are floated on water and "combed" into patterns before being transferred to the paper. The spine is reinforced for durability, and a hand-written label indicates its place within a historical library.

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Reserved, Quarto original: "Res. 4º"; the abbreviation "Res." likely stands for Reservata, indicating this book was kept in a restricted or rare collection. "4º" (Quarto) refers to the book's size, where the original printing sheets were folded twice to create four leaves.

School Library original: "Gymn."; an abbreviation for Gymnasium, a classical secondary school or college. This indicates the book was part of an academic institution's collection.

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