Highlanders, Harry and the Great Mogul...

It's hard to buy a deck of reproduction 18th century playing cards without noticing the wrapper in which they are sold.

We are always quick to notice the "tax stamp," but what do we know about the other side of the package? Perhaps the most common reproduction deck of cards are the "I. Hardy" cards which are claimed to be based upon a deck which was printed about 1765.

On the other side is the picture of "The Great Mogul." This is part of a grading system of playing cards. The finest cards were called "Moguls," the next best "Harrys," and those with imperfections "Highlanders." Tradition has it that the finest, the Moguls, were named after the Mogul emperors, the Harrys, were named after Henry VIII, and the Highlanders, after Bonnie Prince Charlie.

And to ensure that the necessary duty was paid, each ace of spades was printed in the Stamp Office at Somerset House, and then given to the card printers once they had paid the duty for them.

"I. Hardy" mentioned above is actually James Hardy who operated from 1798 to 1824. The ace in this pack is number 33 which places it some time before 1817. (Ace number 37 was used from 1817 to 1820)

The other common playing card available as a reproduction today, in this case an example of a Harry's Card, is the Aesop's Fables cards which were first manufactured around 1759 by John Kirk.

Unfortunately there are currently no examples of the last sort of card, the Highlanders, but above you can see an example of a Highlanders wrapper. This example is from Henry Hart about 1757.

 

(from Maryland State Archives, Chancery Court (Chancery Papers, Exhibits) Wallace, Davidson Johnson, Order Books, 1771/4/25-1775/11/16. MSA S 528-27/28)  

And finally we can't forget to mention the merchant connection to playing cards, in this case that of Wallace, Davidson and Johnson and their orders for all of these various qualities of cards, as seen above in their order books, this order being placed April 25, 1771.

So the next time you go selecting 18th Century playing cards to buy, you will have a better understanding for the wrapper and information upon it as to what was inside.

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