Here’s an article on Aluette by René-Louis Doyon, which some may find interesting.

Speaking of folded-up sheets in boxes, one of Marteau's decks in the BNF had a little surprise in it, another article by the good doctor Baudouin: From this deck here: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10536067n

It certainly looks more fun than bridge, whist, or tarot !

Yeah, the "papies" are probably the main demographic who still play; the latest set of Grimaud aluette cards (the only ones available, in fact) have the instructions for the grimaces written on the cards. http://www.archives.vendee.fr/var/storage/images/media/images/actualite-clefs-pour-la-recherche...

Hi Ross, Relative of Tarot in the loose and figurative sense, being a card game, and it is mentioned in the same breath in Rabelais’ Pantagruel , right before “taraux”. Yes, the way the files display on that site is inconvenient, I’ve compiled the articles into PDFs here: https://www.scribd.com/docu...

Another historical article on Aluette is also online, André Viaud-Grand- Marais, "Un vieux jeu de cartes vendéen : le jeu d'aluette". Revue du Bas-Poitou, 1910, 2° fascicule, pp. 186-200. The article can be found in the second volume for 1910. http://recherche-archives.vendee.fr/archives/fonds/FRAD0...

Researching a couple of points in Court de Gébelin’s essay which mentioned Aluette, I looked into the literature on the subject, and it may interest some readers to know that the classic studies on this neglected relative of the Tarot are now available online; the two early (and quite lengthy) artic...

I had noted the first part is more or less a paraphrase (somewhere?), and Rainsford places some the material at the end of Court’s essay towards the beginning as well, as I recall. But he veers towards a more literal translation quite quickly, and we can guess at the reasons for his presentation of ...

Looking for something else, I came across a reference to an article on this very subject, written by no less than the man who taught Artaud astrology, tarot , etc. “Manuel Cano de Castro, Rencontre d’Antonin Artaud avec les tarots,” in: K, n° 1-2, juin 1948, « Antonin Artaud. Textes, documents, témo...

That 's possible, but in the preface to Court's essay, he notes that "my Curiosity at that Time led me to procure the several Species of Cards used by different Peoples", plus we know he was in Italy so that was my first thought as to the deck.

And thanks for the kind words!