One of the earliest mentions of using playing cards as a social invitation comes from The Spiritual Quixote: The summer's Ramble of Mr. Geoffry Wildgoose. A Comic Romance by Richard Graves in 1773. Its mention in Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer's The Devil's Picture-Books: A History of Playing-Cards from 1890 inspired me to look for the passages:
"A lady, who is disgusted with the world, desires half an hour's conversation with Mr. Wildgoose, as soon as he is at leisure."
Of course, I botched the quote on the card but... anyway, there were rules for what card should be used and by whom but surely it was all in jest said within a romance so should we really use it as a guide? Of course!
Some cards mentioned are the Queen of Hearts (too trite to send to a fine woman); Jack of Diamonds (never inquire of a fine man's health under such auspices); The Two of Clubs (appropriate for duels and challenges); Black Aces (entirely discarded in correspondence with ladies of character). I don't understand the connotations of the Nine and Ten cards in the games ombre or quadrille, though both leave out the aforementioned cards.
The two chapters:
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