Only marginally relevant to this blog, but they are Napoleonic and they are for gaming, only not war-gaming!
My in-laws went to Europe a couple of years ago and made a special trip to the Waterloo battle-site especially to pick up some tourist tat for me. Included amongst the battlefield maps and guides, they bought me this pack of cards featuring famous portraits and battle scenes from the Napoleonic era.
The King, obviously, features pictures of the man himself, while the Queen features pictures of the women in his life, from his 2 wives to his mother and sister Pauline Borghese, and the Jacks are his Marshals and generals including Kleber, Davout, Ney and Murat. My favourites are the Jokers featuring Talleyrand and Fouche! The Aces feature battle scenes and the numbered cards feature important dates from the history of the 1er Empire.
My schoolboy French doesn't stretch to knowing what the symbols stand for, though; I guess 'R' stands for Roi, but 'D' (Dame?) and 'V' escape me! Maybe some of my Francophone readers could help?
That's a nice souvenir - very nice of your in-laws to do this. Best, Dean
ReplyDeleteNow that is very cool.
ReplyDeleteThat is a super souvenir. Someone once brought me back a perfect, smooth, round, clean, certificated-as-genuine musket ball from Waterloo. Yeah, right. My friend De Vries assures me that the total weight of musket balls sold to Waterloo visitors since 1815 would have taken the combined transport sections of both armies several months to shift. A bit like the pieces of the Berlin Wall, or the original Holy Cross.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your cards are terrific - I like them.
Tony
Very nice! Love those Jokers! :-)
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ReplyDeleteV for valet... Nice cards!
ReplyDeleteI confirm : R for "Roi", the King or the Emperor here. D for "Dame". Actually the Queen also called "Dame" for "Première dame" or first lady. And finally V for "Valet" which does not reflect the status of Marshall Ney...
ReplyDelete