Wits Interpreter

by John Cotgrave

This book is a delightful 17th-century collection of all kinds of fancy. The first three editions were published in 1655, 1662, and 1671.

This book is important for the history of card games, because its second and third edition include a long section (pp. 353-371) describing the rules of four card games. Early rulebooks are rare, which makes this collection very precious.

I have found microfilm copies of these three editions: as microfilm photocopies are inconvenient to read, I decided to transcribe the text. The transcriptions are based on the second edition (1662): in a few places where the photocopies were unclear, or the text seemed to contain errors, the third edition was consulted.

• Title Page of the 2nd edition
• Preface to the 2nd edition
  In the last few pages of this preface, John Cotgrave writes down some extravagant praise honoring the newly Restored king, Charles II. Cotgrave proclaims that it is because of this happy event of the Restoration that he has added the Games to this collection. I believe that Cotgrave's claim is plausible, because it is well-known that the courtiers of this king had a veritable passion for card games.
• Rules for the game of Ombre (pp. 352-357).
  • 2nd edition text.
  • 3rd edition text.
• Rules for the game of Picket (pp. 358-364).
  • 2nd edition text. Based on Justin's transcription at Medieval & Renaissance Games, compared anew against the microfilm copies.
• Not yet transcribed:
  • Gleek (pp. 365-368)
  • Cribbidge (pp. 369-371)