Note 106 — Chapter II · INTRODUCTION OF CARDS INTO EUROPE.

"It has been conjectured that the art of wood-engraving was employed on sacred subjects, such as the figures of saints and holy persons, before it was applied to the multiplication of those 'books of Satan,' playing cards. It, however, seems not unlikely that it was first employed in the manufacture of cards; and that the monks, availing themselves of the same principle, shortly afterwards employed the art of wood-engraving for the purpose of circulating the figures of saints; thus endeavouring to supply a remedy for the evil, and extracting from the serpent a cure for his bite."—A Treatise on Wood Engraving, Historical and Practical, p. 58. Published by Charles Knight and Co. London, 1839.