Magic Card or Remedy for the Wind-Breaking of the Southwest and the Departure of the Cartouche

Anonymous

1720

Hand-colored etching and engraving

One of several sets of playing cards made during the bubbles, which were often likened to a “commerce in wind,” this whimsical suite depicts characters from the European theatrical tradition of the commedia dell’arte alongside circus acrobats, tightrope walkers, and other performers. A similar set is marked with diagonal lines, indicating that the cards were meant to be cut out, folded, and used to create a spinning toy known as a thaumatrope. Some of these cards were included in The Great Mirror of Folly. They suggest how readers were encouraged to interact with the volume’s contents, possibly as a way to work through or “remedy” traumatic events by means of therapeutic humor, play, and art.