Magic Cards: A Social Amusement to ascertain any lady’s or gentleman’s name or to find any person’s age

England, 1850. 18 cards (89 x 54 mm), 9 printed on pink cardstock and 9 on yellow. Housed in original slipcover made of pebbled green paper over boards with chromolithographed label affixed to the front, open at top and bottom. Light wear to edges of slipcover, otherwise in excellent condition. A charming and unusual magic card game based on mathematical principles that purports to reveal anyone’s name and age. Using the pink cards for women and yellow for men, the questioner holds onto the instruction and key cards and gives the player the rest of them, which have lists of names and numbers and the letters A E I O U W and Y at the top. The player tells the questioner the letters corresponding to which cards have their name on them, and, using the key, the questioner adds their corresponding numbers to get the player’s name (provided it is one of the 127 names listed). The game is played the same way to determine players’ ages. The game actually works!