Historic Shakespeare

Published April 16, 2025 Updated April 16, 2025

“Historic Shakespeare” playing cards featuring Shakespearean characters by Chas Goodall & Son.

1893 United Kingdom Goodall Art & Design Chromolithography Education Shakespeare

Historic Shakespeare playing cards by Chas Goodall & Son from 1893 are beautifully detailed and rich in artistic, educational and literary value, reflecting a Victorian love of Shakespeare as a cornerstone of English heritage and identity. The gravitas and monumental feel is emphasized by the elaborate box design . The cards themselves have a near-painterly quality in the chromolithography. The court cards are double-ended and costumed in historically-inspired, theatrical regalia with colourful diagonal sashes. The aces are illustrated with heraldic emblems and allegorical symbols, while the suits are themed as follows:

  • Spades: Julius Caesar, Brutus, and Calpurnia, with Caesar’s dramatic assassination theme on the ace.
  • Hearts: Henry VIII, Katherine of Aragon, and Cardinal Wolsey, with the arms of Henry VIII on the ace.
  • Clubs: King Lear, Cordelia, and Edmund. The ace shows King Lear's name carved into a rock.
  • Diamonds: Henry V – King Henry, Katherine, and Falstaff.
  • The set also includes a leaflet with quotes from Shakespeare's plays , plus additional advertising

    Historic Shakespeare with courts featuring Shakespearean characters, Chas Goodall & Son, 1893 Historic Shakespeare with courts featuring Shakespearean characters, Chas Goodall & Son, 1893

    Above: Historic Shakespeare with courts featuring Shakespearean characters, manufactured by Chas Goodall & Son, 1893.

    Historic Shakespeare with courts featuring Shakespearean characters, Chas Goodall & Son, 1893

    Above: two back designs. Advertising backs are also known.

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    33 Articles

    By Jon Randall

    Member since May 28, 2020

    From 6 or 7 years of age I enjoyed playing cards with my family, and still enjoy a variety of games today with various groups and individuals. I contribute my competitive nature to enjoying games … it’s not that I like to win, I dislike losing! I was barely 10 years old when my great Uncle left me a small collection of playing cards and that was the starting point of my collecting. The competitive streak in me helped develop me into a competitive swimmer that sent me to various places around the world, including a 6 year stint in the US, where for much of that time I was at university. I’ve always enjoyed car boots flea markets, yard sales, charity shops etc., and my eye would never miss a pack of playing cards. Even after my swimming career finished I coached at a high level for many years and continued enjoying the discovery of some great finds around the world. For decades my collection continued to grow, despite selling a portion of it via eBay over the years. It wasn’t until post 2010 that I realised, mostly due to correspondence with Australian friends, that there were so many single playing card collectors. This intrigued me. I had so many packs of cards at home that I made the bold decision to share a good number with singles collectors, and subsequently listed around 7000 for sale on eBay. That did make a dent in my collection, but there’s still around 30,000 packs taking up quite a bit of space at home. Crazy? Yes, but I’ve seen bigger hoards a few times! There’s so many I surprise myself finding packs I forgot I had when I look in a box I’d not seen in a while.

    My eBay IDs if you’d like to look are “worldwide_playing_cards” & “playing_cards_world

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