"Reineke Fuchs" Deck of Cards, 1992

Item — Box: CFC Playing Cards Box 3

Identifier: CFC2018.0071.3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Carlson Fable Collection is a gathering of primary fable materials at Reinert Alumni Memorial Library at Creighton University. It grew out of the personal collection of fable materials gathered by Rev. Gregory Carlson, S.J. and was given to the Creighton Libraries in 1996. There are more than 10,000 books and approximately 8,000 artifacts in the collection.

From plates to stamps, from cards to whiskey decanters, from toys to posters, you'll find just about anything you can imagine here. Please explore all that is to offer here in my fables Catalogue of Objects.

This is the largest online catalog of fable related objects on the internet. Many are from Aesop's Fables but you will find La Fontaine, Velazquez and Krylov also represented in this collection.

Dates

1992

Extent

.5 Linear Feet : 32 plastic-coated cards featuring a backing, numbering system, Kaulback image, and two or three lines from Goethe's texts ; 3" x 4" x .5"

Language of Materials

German

Additional Description

Abstract

There are eight "quartets," each presenting a phase of Reynard's story. The numbering system assigns a numeral in a circle within the black-and-white image on each page for the quartet—from "1" to "8." Above this, outside the image, is a set of from one to four symbols like asterisks. So each card is unique: the second card, e.g., of the fifth quartet. The backing of each card presents the same set of six fox images in a checkerboard pattern balancing light and shadow. I believe that Herr von Fuchs arranged for the production of these lovely laminated cards himself. I am sorry that my favorite image of the cat attacking the local priest is not here. Perhaps the most graphic of the cards here is the third card of the sixth quartet, in which the severed head of the rabbit is brought forth from the wallet.