As
our December 2002 Holiday Gift, we designed a set of playing cards using four
historical eras important in the development of lettering as the four suits.
In
addition to the typography theme, each suit features letters from 1/2 of the
alphabet
(so
two entire
alphabets
are
illuminated
in this deck). The following introduction to the suits is printed on a cover
card:
The
Columns suit uses Roman capitals chiseled on the Trajan Column.
The Banners suit uses Medieval Lombardic capitals that were
hand-painted in manuscripts.
Escutcheons use early metal type from the infancy of printing.
Calligraphy uses ornamental calligraphy from the Baroque
era.
A few sets of cards are still available for $20/each set. They are 2-3/4 x 4-1/4", printed in crisp black ink on 100 lb cover coated paper and packaged in a red cardstock wrapper.
The
Columns suit uses Roman capitals chiseled on the Trajan Column. 
The Banners suit uses Medieval Lombardic capitals that were
hand-painted in manuscripts.
Escutcheons use early metal type from the infancy of printing.
Calligraphy uses ornamental calligraphy from the Baroque
era.