my playing card collection
Transformation #1: J.G. Cotta, Tübingen
"Die Jungfrau von Orleans", 1805
illustrated by Countess von Jenison-Walworth.
For more information on these transformation cards and to purchase a contemporary reproduction refer to this excellent post by William Roya from March 24, 2020 here…
J. G. Cotta's transformation cards
In 1804 the family company of J. G. Cotta, publishers and booksellers in Tübingen, Germany, produced this pack of playing cards. It is the first set of transformation cards that was published as an actual deck of playing cards and was intended to be used as a type of almanac, each card representing one of the 52 weeks in a year. An almanac booklet accompanied the cards explaining the sequence.
At the time Johann Friedrich Cotta was managing the company that his great-great-grandfather, Johann Georg Cotta had began. in 1659. Johann published six transformation decks between 1804 and 1811. Four of these were designed by Countess Jenison-Walworth of Heidleburg.
This reproduction, featuring Joan of Arc, was published by Editions Atlas in 2013 from an original 1805 edition in the private Kharbine-Tapabor collecion, Paris, France (my ref: #15). Another original copy seems to be in the Fournier museum in Alava, Spain.
Countess Jenison-Walworth
The design is attributed to a Countess von Jenison-Walworth. Some accounts say Charlotte. The mother of Count Franz II von Jenison-Walworth, from Heidleburg, (1764-1821) was a Charlotte (Lady C. Smith) but she died in 1803. Franz's first wife was Charlotte von Cornet (b. 1766) and she may be the designer.
However to be contrary I believe that the illustrator was the second wife of Count Franz II von Jenison-Walworth, Mary Day Beauclerc, an Englishwoman.
They were married in 1797 in Heidleberg. and she lived in Germany at the time the cards were published in 1805. Mary's mother was a well known artist in England with an artistic style not dissimilar to that on the cards and I have found reference to Mary being an artist also. She led a very interesting and extremely colourful life so if you are interested, more information on the Countess Mary Day Jenison-Walworth can be found here...
The court cards feature persons involved in the story of Joan of Arc including :
Charles VII - King of France
Isabeau de Baviere
La Hire
René d'Anjou - King of Sicily
Louison - Joan of Arc's sister
Montgomeri
Philippe de Bourgogne
Agnes Sorel
Raimont - a villager and suitor of Joan of Arc.
Talbot - dying
Jeanne d' Arc
Lionel - A Burgandian knight
Johann Friedrich Cotta
The inspiration for the theme of this pack of cards was probably Friedrich Schiller's play, The Maid of Orleans (German: Die Jungfrau von Orleans) a tragedy, first performed in Leipzig, Germany on 11 September 1801 and hugely popular. The play loosely follows the life of Joan of Arc.
Johann Friedrich Cotta (1764-1832), publisher, industrial pioneer, and politician, was an intellectual who was a close friend of Schiller. Schiller's works and later that of Goethe were published by the company.
My Ref: #15
