Like the other books in Bulfinch's Pocket Entertainments Series, this book is written in "period" language--the author is supposed to be a stuffy Victorian clergyman. Because this is pulled off well it makes the book that much more fun. I also enjoyed the illustrations: vintage playing cards, Victorian valentine-style pictures, a Renaissance painting (a cheating-at-cards scene), and dogs playing poker...The book includes solitaire games like devil and puss-in-the-corner as well as social games like bezique, whist, old sledge, and fan-tan. Even with the period language the instructions are easy to understand, which is not always the case in books of card games! The book's small size makes it conveniently portable.
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