A new edition of a classic solitaire book has just been published. Dick's Games of Patience or Solitaire with Cards was originally published in 1884. Westholme Publishing has republished this book with a new edition.
This new edition is virtually a complete reproduction of the 1884 edition (I have a copy of the 1884 edition). It reproduces the original illustrations and text exactly.
Dick's is a collection of rules of 64 solitaire card games. For some of these games it is the original source of the rules that can still be found (the games probably originated elsewhere, but the original sources are lost). It contains rules for classic games like Auld Lang Syne, Four Seasons, Calculation, La Belle Lucie, Baker's Dozen, and many more. Some of the games are now better known under different names than they are given in Dick's - for example, "Napoleon at St. Helena" is now usually known as Forty Thieves, "The Garden" is now known as Flower Garden, "The Order of Precedence" is now known just as Precedence, "Rouge et Noir" is the game now called Red and Black.
The game called "The Pyramid" is actually a very different game than the one now called Pyramid. Dick's "The Pyramid" is in Pretty Good Solitaire under the name "Reserved Pyramid".
Some of the rules given are different from generally accepted modern rules. For instance, the game rules described as "La Belle Lucie" is actually the game "Three Shuffles and a Draw" in Pretty Good Solitaire, as it contains a special draw in the last deal. This is generally omitted from La Belle Lucie in later sources.
The vast majority of the games in Dick's are in Pretty Good Solitaire, added after I picked up a copy of the 1884 edition on eBay.
Dick's Games of Patience or Solitaire with Cards is without question a solitaire rule book of historical significance. Dick's published a second volume in 1898 with many more important games as well. This new edition contains the table of contents of the second volume but not any of the content. Perhaps Westholme will follow up with a volume of the second series.
This new edition will make an excellent addition to any solitaire collector's library. It is especially interesting to see how the games were described over a century ago, as the language used is much different than in modern books. I highly recommend the book for anyone who is interested not just in playing solitaire but also in reading about it.
The author, William B. Dick, was apparently the author of a lot of books of general interest in the late nineteenth century. In fact, he was not only the author but apparently the publisher as well (the original edition was published by Dick & Fitzgerald). The 1884 edition lists some of his other works at the end. They include Dick's Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes, Dick's Book of Toasts, Speeches and Responses, Dick's Parlor Exhibitions, and How to Make them Successful, Dick's One Hundred Amusements for Evening Parties, Picnics, and Social Gatherings, and Dick's Original Album Verses and Acrostics. The description for this last one says: "It contains also Two Hundred and Eighteen Original Acrostic Verses, the initial letters of each verse forming a different Lady's Christian name, the meaning and derivation of the name being appended to each. The primary object of this book is to furnish entirely fresh and unhackneyed matter for all who may be called upon to fill and adorn a page in a Lady's Album; but it contains also new and appropriate verses to suit Birthday, Wedding, and all other Anniversaries and Occasions to which verses of Compliment or Congratulation are applicable." They don't publish stuff like that anymore. Obviously, Dick was the man to invite to all your parties.
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