[Ads-l] Antedating of "Craps" (Game)

Peter Reitan pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM
Wed Jun 13 16:21:30 UTC 2018


All of these new references everyone is finding are interesting because they resolve a question discussed in many of the discussions of the etymology of the word.  Several discussions I've seen suggest that the game Hazard was adopted and renamed by the French as Crabs - and then it was assumed that French-North Americans later modified the word to Craps.  But the early existence of Craps and Creps (I don't know the difference in the games) appears to establish that it was named Craps in France before being adopted in English.  It's also not clear whether Craps in France was the same as Hazard, or whether the game, as well as the name, had already evolved.


Slightly earlier in French:

Macedoine Revolutionnaire, Pour Servir a l'Histoire de Nos Jours, Paris, Chez C. F. Patris, December 28, 1815, page 286. HathiTrust


[Begin Excerpt] Par la volonte de l'empereur, la decision de son excellence M. Fouche [(who was the minister of police as revealed a couple of pages earlier)], et notre assentiment, le conseil de prefecture de . . . laissera etablir dans la bonne ville de . . . Roulettes, Banques de Trente-un, Passe-dix, Craps, Creps, Pharaons, OLansquenets, Biribis, et toutes autres sages inventions de ce genre pour le delassement de nos bons administres; . . . .

[End Excerpt]




Early - in English - about gambling in Paris:

Henry Matthews, Diary of an Invalid, Being the journal of a tour in pursuit of health in Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, and France in the years 1817, 1818, and 1819, London, John Murray, 2d Edition 1820, page 504. HathiTrust:
[Begin Excerpt]
The following document, taken from the Bibliotheque Historique, will shew the fearful extent to which gaming is carried in Paris at present.
Budget Des Jeux Publics.
Etat Des Frais Annuels Des Jeux De Paris.
7 Tables de
Trente-et-un.
9 de Roulette.
1 Passe-Dix.
1 Craps.
1 Creps.
1 Biribi.
These twenty tables are distributed about Paris; the minimum established as a stake, varies from a Napoleon to a sous; so that every man may find a table, suited to his fortune.  At some, women are admitted, and it is needless to describe the effect which such institutions must have upon the morals of the town.
[End Excerpt]

The references it refers to is the Bibliotheque Historique out Receuil de Materiaux pour servir a l'Histoire du Temps, Tome Quatrieme, Paris, Chez Delaunay, 1818.


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2018 8:22 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Craps" (Game)

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Craps" (Game)
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Here is a slightly earlier example of craps in French in 1816.

Date: January 20, 1816
Periodical: L'Ambigu: ou Vari=C3=A9t=C3=A9s Litt=C3=A9raires, et Politiques
Chapter: LXXVIII
Quote Page 146
Publisher: Imprim=C3=A9 pour Schulze et Dean, A Londres (For Schulze and
Dean, London)

https://books.google.com/books?id=3DCCcDAAAAYAAJ&q=3Dcraps#v=3Dsnippet&

[Begin excerpt =E2=80=93 double-check for errors]
"Par la volont=C3=A9 de l'empereur la d=C3=A9cision de Son Excellence M. Fo=
uch=C3=A9
et notre assentiment, le conseil de pr=C3=A9fecture de. . . . laissera
=C3=A9tablir dans la bonne ville de. . . . Roulettes, Banques de Trente-un,
Passe-dix, Craps, Creps, Pharaons, Lansquenets, Biribis, et toutes
autres sages inventions de ce genre pour le d=C3=A9lassement de nos bons
administr=C3=A9s;
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 12:09 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> Wonderful citation, Stephen. New Orleans has a strong connection to
> France, so a French source is natural I think. It would be nice to
> have a description of the 1818 version of the craps game in French,
> but that may be difficult to obtain. The page image also lists
> "Creps".
>
> On Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 5:38 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wro=
te:
>> Here's the 1818 French original with Craps, etc.:
>>
>> https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=3Dumn.31951000729960p;view=3D1up;=
seq=3D229
>>
>> Stephen
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <...>
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 4:51 AM
>> To:...
>> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Antedating of "Craps" (Game)
>>
>> Feb. 13 (Saturday), 1819
>>
>> Columbian Museum and Savanna Daily Gazette, p. 2, col. e
>>
>> ***
>>
>> GAMING AT PARIS
>>
>> The following detail on the Public Gaming Tables of Paris....
>>
>> ....
>>
>> 1 do [ditto =3D Tables] of Craps.
>>
>> ....
>>
>>
>> Stephen Goranson
>>
>> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>> Stephen Goranson's Home Page - Duke University<http://people.duke.edu/~g=
oranson/>
>> people.duke.edu
>> "Celsus of Pergamum: Locating a Critic of Early Christianity," Ch. 30 in=
 The Archaeology of Difference: Gender, Ethnicity, Class and the "Other" in=
 Antiquity: Studies in Honor of Eric M. Meyers (AASOR 60/61, 2007 ...
>>
>>
>>
>> Stephen Goranson's Home Page - Duke University<http://people.duke.edu/~g=
oranson/>
>> people.duke.edu
>> "Celsus of Pergamum: Locating a Critic of Early Christianity," Ch. 30 in=
 The Archaeology of Difference: Gender, Ethnicity, Class and the "Other" in=
 Antiquity: Studies in Honor of Eric M. Meyers (AASOR 60/61, 2007 ...
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <...>
>> Sent: Monday, June 11, 2018 7:45 PM
>> To: ...
>> Subject: [ADS-L] Antedating of "Craps" (Game)
>>
>> craps (game) (OED 1843)
>>
>>
>> 1842 _Newark_ (N.J.) _Daily Advertiser_ 6 Dec. 1/2  The common game of _=
craps_ in New Orleans (resembling the English "hazard") has been pronounced=
 gambling by the conviction of a noted house on the 25th ult.
>>
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__www.americandiale=
ct.org&d=3DDwIFAw&c=3DimBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=3DuUVa-=
8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=3Dy3ZyKwkvDHT76Q00HA1O0sN6AQuMp4b0=
huuvx21r5fI&s=3Dlo059MWCU8UMayBV0clMJBXk-6xk7eZbvRcI5olTaWc&e=3D>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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