Dice: Deception, Fate and Rotten Luck

Jay, Ricky

Published by The Quantuck Lane Press, New York, 2003

About this Item

Original publisher's black cloth binding and black dust wrapper with a reprinted color photograph of celluloid dice on the front panel. 8 3/8" x 8." Sixty-three pages, complete. Reprinted color photographs, complete. Gilt lettering on spine. Dust wrapper not price-clipped. Pages and covers are pristine and intact. Binding is tight. The only signs of damage are two vertical fold lines on the back free endpaper. Both the book and dust wrapper are As New. This book is a 1st edition and 1st printing as evidenced by the number "1" printed on the copyright page. This is both a book about the history of dice and an art photography book that features color photographs of celluloid dice. The following is an excerpt from the front flap of the dust wrapper: "Ricky Jay asked his friend Rosamond Purcell to photograph and commemorate his crumbing collection of dice. The result is a series of remarkable photographs that inspired Mr. Jay's composition on decomposing dice. These dice made from celluloid, the first commercially manufactured plastic, remain stable for decades, and then in a flash begin to crack, crystallize, and implode. . He traces gambling with dice from the ancient use of astragali, the heel bones of hoofed quadrupeds, to their use in the casinos of Las Vegas. Along the way we discover numerous ways in which shaved, misspotted, and loaded dice were used by colorful and unscrupulous hustlers to gain advantage over their less enlightened brethren.".

Seller Inventory # 020201

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Dice: Deception, Fate and Rotten Luck
• Publisher: The Quantuck Lane Press, New York
• Publication Date: 2003
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Purcell, Rosamond (Photographer)
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • Games
  • Art and Architecture