Three Early Edition c. 1843 Hand-colored, Wood Engraved Dr. Busby Cards, First Known American Card Game micmac curlicue basket which debuted in 1919

which debuted in 1919

It seems possible this box

I've never seen such precision paper pricking as here--page after page of nothing but tiny punctures to the white pages

but no notable losses to the wood

Three Early Edition c. 1843 Hand-colored, Wood Engraved Dr. Busby Cards, First Known American Card Game micmac curlicue basket which debuted in 1919There are only three cards here, but they are special ones, from a very early edition of the first known American card game, The Game of Dr. Busby, a matching memory game designed by the Beverly, MA born writer Anne W. Abbott and published in Salem by W. & S. B. Ives in 1843 which is credited with having started the game craze in the U. S. The earliest editions of the game featured cards illustrated with hand colored wood engravings, as here, with 20