For the sake of clarity, I want to point out that Lévi’s text - a piece of private correspondence - was written in 1860 and circulated by his disciples from the end of the following year according to the colophon. This text on talismanic magic not only includes the aforementioned term ‘Esclaves’ but...

Hello Mike, I had written a more lengthy reply above, but had forgotten to post it before turning off the computer. Consulting the historical entries in the Littré dictionary, it is clear that the feudal sense of the word gives way to the more familiar term of domestic servant, and thence, of abuse,...

A slave is certainly in the conceptual range of a page, valet, servant, etc., so it is easy to see how it emerged in some card games. Another manifestation of "ludic logic," as I like to call it, "emergent" features of games, almost folkloric, like making an intrisically weak ca...

Well, it would seem that there is a precedent for equating the valet or jack with the slave after all: in the Persian/Indian game mentioned earlier, Ganjifa, spelt in many ways, we find not only the suit of slaves in some variations of the game, but also the jack-slave: "In an account about gam...

One related point I found was a Shakespearean reference to "Jack-slaves," so presumably these two terms were amalgamated at some point in the 17th century, and I think it would be permissible to extend that sense to the Valet as well (certainly 'varlet' in English would bear that out.)

Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote: 14 Nov 2019, 10:58 Wicked Pack of Cards, pp. 198ff shows that it derives from the idiosyncratic titles of Paul Christian, in L'homme rouge des Tuileries (1863).

That's exactly right, I just checked Pitois' book. He has a lot to answer for. Thanks for pointing this out.

I just discovered that the Grand Tarot Belline uses those designations. Looking up the history of that pack should clear up the mystery. E.g. https://thelilystonequarry.com/belline-gold/ Suits = Sicle, Coupe, Glaive, Sceptre Court = L’Esclave, Le Combattant, La Maitresse, Le Maitre Minors = pips + ...

Thanks Ross. The names of the contributors are listed at the end of the set and at the end of volume 3, with an addendum in volume 4. I didn't spot any familiar names, but then I only cast a cursory glance as I said. I must take another look at the other relevant entries, I had a quick look at "...

I have come across a statement saying that the Valets in some early card decks were called ’slaves,’ but my cursory research has turned up no concrete evidence for this assertion. Romain Merlin, in his work on the origins of playing cards, mentions a Persian card game which includes an entire suit o...

Dammartin’s book was republished recently in English (no mention of whether it is a bilingual edition or just the translation), the publisher’s website also includes some images from the original editions as well as from the new translation: https://hellfireclubbooks.com/product/hieroglyphical-chara...