[Bayer, Johann]

Title card and 52 playing cards (97 x 56mm.), each with engraved plate and letterpress, title-card with engraved celestial hemispheres, 12 court cards each with engraving depicting the signs of the Zodiac with descriptive text beneath, and 40 cards, each suit numbered 1 to 10, with engraving depicting a constellation, the stars numbered with Greek letters, and 8 lines of text in German printed beneath, plain paper backs with seventeenth-century manuscript annotations and numbered 1-52, later full vellum case, minor wear

Sammlung Sylvia Mann, no.270 in text volume, and full-page plate on p.262 in plates vol.; Cat. Playing Cards, Victoria and Albert Museum, no.87

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

An extremely rare complete pack of seventeenth-century astronomical playing cards, intended as a teaching aid. The wonderful engraved figures are based on the images in Johann Bayer's Uranometria (1603), the first accurate celestial atlas. The text accompanying each image gives a brief description of the constellation, and was intended to be memorised.

The deck comprises twelve court cards with the signs of the Zodiac: four marked with a crown with crossed spears underneath, four marked with crossed spades and scythes, and four marked with an open book with crossed swords underneath, and forty cards numbered one to ten for each suit.

Only one other set has been located (lacking the title-card), in the Sylvia Mann collection, exhibited in the Deutsches Spielkarten-Museum in 1991. One single card only is present in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.