[Fortune Telling] Livre du Destin // The Book of Fate "Lenormand" oracle card deck divination

Paris: Charatier Marteau & Boudin // B.P. Grimaud, 1890. First Edition. Very Good+. First Edition. The dual function playing or divination cards are designed for both fortune telling and gaming, handcolored engraving illustrations, with an inset miniature playing card printed on the top left corner of various suit cards. Both in French and English text. Some early evidence of the use of playing cards for predicting the future dates from the 1480s in Ein Loszbuch ausz der Karten - a book of fate from the cards. The cards were shuffled, one was withdrawn from the deck and then the Book of Fate was consulted to shed light on the matter in question, similar to the Lenormand method of divining. Each card is composed of two different images which complement each other: on the top left are the ordinary playing card symbols and in the centre of each card is an allegorical image accompaning the symbol. The meanings assigned to the cards in the Livre du Destin do not correspond exactly to those given in older Lenormand decks. Reading divination in this manner is nuanced and in context promotes conversation and "leisure" entertainment, more than fortune telling. Reprinted extensively in the early 20th century. In the 1840s, Baptiste Paul Grimaud, a young courier, roamed the streets of Paris with his acute curiosity and ambitious mind. Setting up his own printing business at only 23 years of age, Grimaud developed the modern features that define playing cards as we know them today–full opacity, rounded corners, double-headed faces and four corner indices.--Grimaudparis.com. Minor soiling/toning, else bright and unmarred. 32/32 full color cardstock with rounded edges. Approx. 11x7.2cm. Chromeolithographic illustrations. Housed in a handmade vellum slip case. Missing original red slipcase box and white consultant card, and the tax stamp is not present on the card n° 16.