paper, then, are the first objects which meet
the eye in a systematic notice of the manufacture;
and here the skill of the cunning artificer
is at once called for. The paper must not be
smooth, and yet it must not be pluffy; it
must take the paste well if it be for the inside;
and it must take paste well, and paint well, and
polish well, if it be for the face or the back:
in short it must render the right service at
the right time—like everything which fills a
creditable place in the world. These sheets of
paper, then, for the inside or foundation of
the card are laid down in a compact pile on
a bench, and the paster proceeds to wield his
formidable circular brush. Let it not be here
supposed that a man trifles away his life by
sticking sheets of paper together; easy as it
may seem to dip the big brush into the tub of
paste, and to beslaver the paper with the
unctuous compound, yet is it an art which
can be learned well only by long and steady
practice. And oh! the paste: let us never
again think paste to be a trifling commodity,
when we find that between three
and four hundred gallons are required per
day for the various pastings which occur in
Messrs. De la Rue's establishment. When
the sheets are pasted, two and two together,
they are solidified or consolidated by a careful
series of processes, in which cool drying, warm
drying, and heavy pressure by hydraulic
presses, are brought in aid one of another;
and thus is produced a thin but very firm and
tough carton, fitted to bear the table-service
which a pack of cards is destined to render.

And now we leave the inside carton to
attend to the face and back. Each of these
is formed of one piece or sheet of paper,
differing in quality from that which has been
used for the inside, but equal in size. The
sheet is moderately white, and certainly not
more than moderately smooth.. The surface
to be pasted is left to the tender mercies of
the paste; but the other surface is subjected
to an ordeal which we do not venture to pry
into too closely, as it is a sort of manufacturers'
secret: it is a process which prepares
the surface for the due reception of
colour. If the pack is to consist of white
cards (commonly so called), the surface of
the carton must still be prepared with a kind
of flinty coating, in order that the black and
red for the pips, and the varied colours for
the court cards may come out clear and
sharp; but, if the cards are to have " coloured
backs," the ground-tint is laid on by a regular
colouring process, and the coloured surface is
further prepared for the reception of a pattern
or device. The colouring material here
employed is such as is technically called
"distemper"—an awkward English version
of an Italian word which signifies a diluted
or thin colour; it is mixed with size made
of parchment cuttings, and is laid on with a
brush. This is one of the very many employments
at the establishment of Messrs. De la
Rue which females are quite well able to fill
—a good thing, when we bear in mind the
heart- aching difficulties which women have
too often to encounter in their search for a
living. It is not so pretty an operation as
many of the dainty processes to which paper
is subjected; but this must be submitted to.
The sheets of paper are laid flat on a bench;
they are coated with colour by means of a
large soft brush, and they are hung singly
over sticks to dry.

Beautiful are the devices now impressed on
the backs .of the best playing cards, by a
process which is, we believe, mainly, if not
altogether, due to Messrs. De la Rue. We
have now spread out before us a graceful
array, consisting of about forty of these
coloured elegances, each differing from the
others. Here is a delicate light green back,
with a drooping flower of the fuschia kind;
here is a light pink, with a sprig from a
cherry tree; and here, and here, and here,
are yellow, blue, lilac, fawn, salmon, orange,
flesh, straw, and numerous other colours, all
light in tint, to set off the devices to greater
advantage. And these devices are such as to
show how exquisitely natural objects may be
pictured, if we will only give our taste fair-
play. The blue-bell, the forget-me-not, the
daisy, the carnation, the ear of wheat or of
barley, all form pretty devices for the backs
of cards, as the manufacturers have amply
well shown. "Unless for the highest class of
cards, the whole device is in some one colour;
but Messrs. De la Rue have lately produced
cards in which the device at the
back is fully coloured in various tints. One
set especially, a right royal set of four packs,
tells us how imagery has been brought in aid
of playing cards. One of these packs has, on
every card, the initials V. R. in fanciful letters
in the centre of the back; another has P. A.,
another P. W., and the fourth has P. R.
To whom these initials relate it is not difficult
to guess; and the exquisite flowers and
leaves which are made to intertwine among
and around the letters are intended, by a
little of the poetry of card-making, to
symbolise qualities in the august personages.
The rose and the hawthorn surrounding one
monogram; the holly, the ivy, and the oak,
surrounding another; the fuschia and the
daisy, a third; the primrose, the violet, and
the lily, a fourth. We will leave those who
are learned in the language of flowers to
interpret all these symbols, and to apply them
to the proper objects; suffice it here to say
that Mr. Owen Jones has been employed
in the production of these very graceful
designs, and that each card back forms a
dainty little picture, worthy of being regarded
as such, irrespective of the main purpose
of the card. Some of the cards, belonging
to other sets, are printed in gold on coloured
grounds; some have a kind of Arabesque or
Moresque pattern, very rich, but very
indescribable; some have squat, thick, stiff,
hard, unmeaning patterns, to suit the taste of