johnson rare books & archives, ABAA (3 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Parisian detective Eugene Villiod wrote this 1906 classic exposing how clever crooks and con artists at the turn of the last century circumvented the anti-gambling laws and operated clubs and casinos legally under the "private club" charter ruse. The game was baccarat en banque, and all the mechanics' moves as well as card-stacking techniques are outlined. Octavo: 221 p. with 65 photographic illustrations. Original black cloth binding, with gilt titles. A fine copy.

Seller Inventory # 74863

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very good. First Edition. Gerolamo Cardano (1501-76) was an Italian Renaissance mathematician and physician whose gambling led him to formulate elementary rules in probability, making him one of the founders of the field. This much sought after biography includes a translation from the Latin of Cardano's Book on Games of Chance, by Sydney Henry Gould. Octavo: xiv, 249 p. with 4 plates and 29 textual illustrations. Original gray cloth binding, with pictorial red and black stamping. Previous owner's ink signature to the front flyleaf. The dust jacket is a bit sun faded along the spine, with some mild rubbing; otherwise very good.

Seller Inventory # 77051

A group of 15 black-and-white photographs of gaming tables produced by Mason & Co., which at one time was the nation's largest producer of gambling equipment. Several of these 8" x 10" images are stamped with a Newark, New Jersey address on the verso, dating the images to pre-1935 when the company consolidated its operations and moved them to Chicago. The company was founded in the late 1800s as Geo. Mason & Co. and initially produced ornate roulette wheels. According to a handwritten note on the back of one of the photographs, the images in this group show the new standard carved library equipment. There are a variety of mahogany tables for playing roulette and craps. One of the images in the group has been mocked up to show it in a residential setting, perhaps for a catalog. Along with the photographs, this group includes four brochures about gambling: Harrah's Club Lake Tahoe Gaming Guide, 1955; Roland Hill's In Las Vegas I Recommend: Where to Go, Stop, Eat, Play and Shop, 1950; Joe W. Brown's Horseshoe Club Souvenir Gaming Guide, 1954; and Eldorado Club Souvenir Gaming Guide, circa 1950.

Seller Inventory # 74710