The Playing-Card

The Playing-Card is a specialist scholarly periodical produced by the International Playing-Card Society (IPCS). It publishes research on the history, design, manufacture, collecting, symbolism, use, and cultural significance of playing cards, together with studies of the games played with them. The journal serves a niche international readership that includes card historians, collectors, museum researchers, game scholars, and members of the IPCS. The publication began in 1972 under the title The Journal of the Playing-Card Society. It adopted the name The Playing-Card in 1980, creating the title under which it has subsequently been known. The journal has generally maintained an annual volume divided into multiple issues. Its publication schedule was formerly six issues per volume and later became four issues per year. The issue sequence and editorial history show a continuous run from its foundation through the present period. Articles are primarily published in English, while contributions have also appeared in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. This multilingual scope reflects the international character of playing-card research and the geographic breadth of the society that produces the journal. Its subject matter extends beyond descriptions of individual decks: the publication treats cards and card games as historical and cultural evidence, examining what recreational practices can reveal about communities, social customs, artistic traditions, and material culture. The journal has also functioned as an outlet for field research conducted by IPCS members and affiliated researchers. Card-game historian David Parlett has identified the study of card games as a distinctive pursuit of the society, and The Playing-Card has helped circulate findings that might otherwise remain dispersed among collectors, local historians, and specialist archives. In this way, the journal contributes to the documentation of a subject that connects popular recreation with art history, printing history, social history, folklore, and cultural studies. The publication maintains retrospective bibliographic resources, including an index covering articles from 1972 through 1997 and contents listings for issues from 1980 onward. Its editorial succession has included Sylvia Mann, Eddie Cass, Trevor Denning, Stuart Lawrence, George Beal, Michael Cooper, Peter Endebrock, and Elettra Deganello. Deganello became editor with the July–September 2023 issue and is identified as the current editor in the available reference material. The Playing-Card is best understood as an editorial and scholarly publication brand rather than a mass-market consumer brand. No evidence in the supplied material indicates that it is a separately incorporated company, publicly listed entity, or owner of a broad commercial product portfolio. Its principal offering is the journal itself, issued as part of the IPCS's program of research, communication, and preservation concerning playing cards and card games.

The Playing-Card was established in 1972 by the International Playing-Card Society under the original title The Journal of the Playing-Card Society. It was created as a specialist publication for research into playing cards and the games associated with them. The journal's field encompasses the design and manufacture of cards, their circulation and collection, the history of particular decks and patterns, and the social and cultural history of card games. The original title remained in use through 1980, when the publication was renamed The Playing-Card. Since then, it has continued as the society's principal journal. Its publishing pattern has consisted of recurring issues gathered into annual volumes. The reference record describes an earlier schedule of six issues per volume and a later schedule of four issues per year. The publication's issue numbering documents the continuity of the series across successive editorial administrations. The journal has an international and multilingual orientation. English is its principal language, but articles have also been published in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. This range corresponds to the cross-border nature of playing-card scholarship, a field in which relevant collections, traditions, terminology, and archival sources are distributed across many countries. The journal's scope consequently includes both broad comparative studies and focused investigations of individual regions, objects, games, and historical practices. The Playing-Card has provided an important outlet for researchers associated with the IPCS and for specialists working in card history and game studies. Its contribution is not limited to entertainment history. Playing cards can provide evidence about printing, graphic design, trade, technology, social class, ritual, leisure, and cultural exchange, while games can illuminate the customs and values of the communities in which they were played. The journal's research agenda therefore links a narrowly defined subject to wider studies of material and social culture. Bibliographic tools have supported the journal's use as a research resource. An index covers its articles from 1972 to 1997, and contents listings are available for issues from 1980 onward. The editorial succession began with Sylvia Mann, followed by Eddie Cass, Trevor Denning, Stuart Lawrence, George Beal, Michael Cooper, Peter Endebrock, and Elettra Deganello. Deganello assumed the editorship in 2023 and is listed as the current editor in the available source. The available material does not identify a separate corporate owner, commercial headquarters, public listing, or independent website for The Playing-Card. It is documented as a publication of the International Playing-Card Society, making the IPCS its institutional parent rather than a conventional corporate parent company.

• 2023

  Elettra Deganello became editor

  [1]The Playing-Carden.wikipedia.org

  Elettra Deganello took over editorial responsibility beginning with the July–September 2023 issue.

• 1997

  Retrospective article index completed through 1997

  [1]The Playing-Carden.wikipedia.org

  A bibliographic index was compiled for articles published during the journal's first twenty-five years.

• 1980

  Publication renamed The Playing-Card

  [1]The Playing-Carden.wikipedia.org

  The journal adopted the shorter title The Playing-Card, which became its continuing publication name.

• 1972

  Journal founded

  [1]The Playing-Carden.wikipedia.org

  The International Playing-Card Society established the publication under the title The Journal of the Playing-Card Society.

A specialist international scholarly journal and research forum for the history, culture, material production, collecting, and use of playing cards and card games.

• Scholarly periodical · 1972

  The Playing-Card

  The journal is the IPCS's principal publication on playing cards and card games. It carries specialist research on the objects, their production and design, their circulation and collection, and the historical, social, and cultural contexts of games. Articles are mainly in English, with additional contributions in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. The publication appears in recurring issues assembled into annual volumes.

1. 1The Playing-Carden.wikipedia.org