My name is Maxime and I live in France. I'm a member of the 52 Plus Joker Club and I collect american decks with some B.P Grimaud decks.
I am particularly attracted by antique playing cards and I collect them for approximately 3 years. Now, I think of having some rarities but I persevere, and I am going to try to enlarge it a little in the coming years.
Today, my collection is organized in two parts: the antique or vintage decks and the American decks currently in production (USPCC, Theory 11, Ellusionist, Dan&Dave, etc).
My interest for the playing cards is multiple : I love cards for their
design and their
history in the first one; the
magic (magic Tricks and Playing Card Flourishes, as on this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5x2FQuQfTg); and also for the
symbols which hide in cards, their esoteric and mystic function (some aspects of the fortune-telling, elements of the little book of the 7 thunders, the use of cards and tarot at the time of king Charles VI, etc..)
I possess two important books concerning the playing cards and each of them helps me to collect and understand better the universe of the playing card.
The Hochman Encyclopedia and another french and rare book of Henry-René d'Allemagne:
Les Cartes à jouer du quatorzième au vingtième siècle.
I hope to make beautiful discoveries on this forum and is a pleasure to be here with you!!
Max