Cosentino - Regole del Tressette - 1777

THE SECRETS OF TRESSETTE IN BOLOGNA? NAPLES BORBONICA: 18th-Century Manual, THE ART OF WINNING AT CARDS
An enchanting Neapolitan manual from 1777 devoted to the rules and strategies of Tressette, one of the best-known Italian card games. Second edition of a curious treatise that teaches mastery of the game through observations, advice, and practical warnings. A precious testimony of Italian gaming culture in the era of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, between aristocratic conversations and popular pastimes. Printed in Naples at the expense of Giacomo-Antonio Venaccia, with an elegant woodcut device on the title page and typographic decorations. A blue-paper copy, with traces of time and the absence of a preliminary white page presumably missing.

ABSTRACT
The Rules and Warnings of Perione Cosentino’s game of Tressette constitute an interesting testimony of eighteenth-century Italian literature dedicated to card games. Published in Naples in 1777, the treatise presents the fundamental rules and the practical tips necessary to play Tressette skillfully, a taking game deeply rooted in Italian tradition. The author treats the game not merely as a pastime but as an exercise of memory, observation, calculation, and strategic ability. Through instructions and warnings, the manual aims to guide the reader in understanding the card combinations and the decisions needed during the different stages of the game. The work reflects a gaming culture in which the player’s competence was seen as a distinguishing element compared to mere luck. This Neapolitan second edition documents the circulation of practical manuals aimed at enthusiasts of traditional games, of considerable interest today for the history of costume and entertainment in eighteenth-century Italy.

WHY TO BUY
A work of particular interest to collectors of antique books on card games, enthusiasts of the history of Tressette, and scholars of Italian popular traditions. The publication of a manual specifically dedicated to this game in 1777 testifies to the importance it had already reached in Italian society. The second edition represents a significant phase in the written transmission of the rules, previously spread mainly through direct instruction and practice. The volume also offers the charm of seventeenth-century Neapolitan typography, with a title page featuring an elaborate woodcut device and a monumental layout of the title. The compact format, blue-paper binding, and typographic decorations give the copy an authentically antique character. A specialized publication, particularly suited to collections dedicated to historical Italian games, Neapolitan culture, and the daily life of the Ancien Régime.

MARKET VALUE
Cosentino’s manual belongs to a specialized bibliographic sector, in which eighteenth-century publications devoted to individual card games can attract collecting interest for their technical content and for documenting Ludic traditions. The second Neapolitan edition of 1777 possesses interesting characteristics, including the printing era, the specific subject, and the relative brevity of the text. In the absence of verified market comparisons for this precise edition, an indicative antique valuation for a complete and good-condition copy can be placed between 450 and 550 euros.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Full-library binding in blue paper, of simple appearance in keeping with the publication’s nature. Title page with an elaborate ornamental woodcut device depicting an heraldic composition with vegetal and decorative motifs. Head- and tail-pieces woodcut in the text. Copy with small stains attributable to adhesive tape on the title page and on the verso of the last leaf. Pages affected by browning and physiological foxing, consistent with the volume’s age.
In old books with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visualizations. Refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. 2nn; 56.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Perione Cosentino.
Regole, ed avvertimenti del giuoco del Tressette.
In Napoli, a spese di Giacomo-Antonio Venaccia, 1777.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Tressette occupies a prominent place in the history of Italian card games. Widely spread across many regions of the peninsula and particularly rooted in the southern tradition, it belongs to the family of trick-taking games played with an Italian forty-card deck. Unlike games where success depends mainly on luck, Tressette requires memory, deduction, attention to cards already played, and understanding of opponents’ possible strategies. Its peculiarity also lies in its hierarchy system, where the Tre (Three) holds a value higher than the Two, and the Ace for winning a trick, creating characteristics distinct from other European games. In the eighteenth century, when card games were among the main amusements in private homes, taverns, cafes, and clubs of conversation, there was a need to codify the rules, which favored the publication of small specialized treatises. Cosentino’s work fits into this process of turning gaming customs into knowable, transmittable knowledge. Its publication in Naples in 1777 is particularly significant for the cultural milieu of the Bourbon capital, one of the major urban and intellectual centers of eighteenth-century Europe. The city hosted a lively publishing activity and a society in which entertainment practices crossed different social strata. The manual is thus not only a testimony of the historical rules of Tressette but also a document of the spread of gaming culture and the growing eighteenth-century attention to the systematization of practical knowledge.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Perione Cosentino is the name displayed on the title page of the treatise Regole, ed avvertimenti del giuoco del Tressette, published in a second edition in Naples in 1777. Available biographical information does not allow a confident reconstruction of his identity, birth and death dates, or affiliation with literary or academic circles. The name may indicate an author from the Cosentina area or be a literary pseudonym, but such an interpretation cannot be considered established. The specialized content of the work suggests a deep knowledge of the game’s practices and the conventions adopted by players of the era. His contribution lies in the tradition of compilers of practical manuals, figures who played an important role in preserving and disseminating the rules of society games before the birth of modern specialized literature. The publication remains a testimony to Neapolitan gaming culture of the eighteenth century and to the interest in Tressette as an activity grounded in competence and experience.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Neapolitan edition of 1777 explicitly carries on the title page the designation Seconda edizione, indicating that a previous impression of the treatise existed. The date and bibliographic characteristics of the first edition are not established here. The new publication was produced at the expense of Giacomo-Antonio Venaccia and marketed at the Cartaria di Costantino, as indicated on the title page. The publishing formula testifies to a mode of book production and distribution characteristic of eighteenth-century Italy, in which printing costs could be borne by a financier and sales entrusted to a specialized outlet. The octavo format and the compact volume length served the practical function of a text meant to be consulted by players and easily carried. The presence of woodcut decorations, despite the essentially manual nature of the work, reveals the attention paid to editorial presentation. The exact print run, the number of copies distributed, and any existence of later reissues are not known with certainty. In any case, the publication represents a significant testimony to eighteenth-century specialized publishing on card games and to the progressive written codification of Italian ludic traditions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Perione Cosentino, Regole, ed avvertimenti del giuoco del Tressette, seconda edizione, Napoli, a spese di Giacomo-Antonio Venaccia, 1777. An interesting testimony of eighteenth-century Italian gaming literature, belonging to the tradition of the earliest manuals devoted to codifying the rules of card games. The work holds particular importance for the history of Tressette, one of the most characteristic games of the Italian peninsula, documenting its diffusion and the development of strategies in the Neapolitan milieu of the Ancien Régime. The designation “Seconda edizione” indicates a prior publication, for which the date and bibliographic characteristics remain to be ascertained. The volume stands out for the specificity of its subject, its concise length, and the elegant ornamentation device. It constitutes a document of interest for specialized collections in the history of playing cards, Neapolitan popular culture, and the evolution of European pastimes. The original print run and the actual bibliographic rarity of the 1777 edition are not established."}