Solitaire
Information.
History of Solitaires
For centuries, card games have been the ideal entertainment for anyone, everywhere. This popularity has not decreased over time. In fact, card games, especially Solitaire, have become indispensable to whomever needs a rest from daily stress and worries.
There is no specific information regarding the origins of Solitaire games, known in Great Britain as Patience games; but it is believed that they originated at the same time card decks did.
The word solitaire is of french origin, and it means patience. It must but wait for the age of Napoleon to see a true development of the solitaire games. Napoleon, the French Emperor, is said to have spent much of his free time playing against a deck of cards. Moreover, some of the most famous Solitaire games are said to have been invented by him.
Solitaire only really became fashionable starting with the Victorian age. The first book on the argument was printed in 1870. It was "Illustrated Games of Patience" by Lady Adelaide Cadogan. It contained 25 games and was reprinted many times. In the United States, Mrs. E.D. Cheney published the book "Patience" in the successive year.
The publishing house Dick & Fitzgerald in New York published a series of books dedicated to Solitaire games: "Dick's Games of Patience" in 1883. A second series was published in 1898.
In the 1890's, a great populariser of the game was Miss Whitemore Jones. Her 5 volumes on Solitaires were reprinted for thirty years.
