Bibliography

What exactly are the full and formal rules for a given solitaire, and what is its true name — and who says so? There is no final, firm answer. Solitaire games travel more by example, friend teaching friend or parent teaching child, than by published rules.

In compiling Solitaire Till Dawn, we used three published references (Ainslie, Brown, and Moyle), our own memories, and when all else failed, our own prejudices in deciding exactly what rules to enforce, and what name to give to each game. The rules for our version of Miss Milligan, for example, will not be found in any of these volumes. Moyle gives rules for Miss Milligan which differ from the ones we learned in childhood; having tried his, we feel (quite strongly!) that ours produce a more interesting and challenging game. For another example, Moyle and Brown disagree on which of the two games is Klondike and which is Canfield; Ainslie (who gave the most complete and convincing history of Canfield) was the tie-breaker.

The true answer is that it does not matter. We come to the card table for fun, not scholarship. There are hundreds of solitaires, and many of them have variations; if you don’t like one set of rules, there are usually others close at hand. And if not, you can make up your own!

Here are the three works we used for reference, along with a few more that you might find interesting; and you may find a great many others by exploring your local libraries and bookstores. If Solitaire Till Dawn has whetted your appetite, here are tables spread with a feast you cannot exhaust in a lifetime.

Ainslie, Tom (1979). Ainslie’s Complete Hoyle. Simon and Schuster.  ISBN 0-671-24779-4

Our 1975 edition describes some 30 or more solitaires, including several of the ones included in Solitaire Till Dawn.

Brown, Douglas (1985). 150 Solitaire Games.  Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-463702-6

We found our 1975 edition to be a bit vague at times. We have not seen the 1985 edition, which may be an improvement. In any event, this inexpensive paperback may well be the best way to spend a little money for a lot of games.

Morehead, Albert H. and Mott-Smith, Goeffrey (1977). The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-12185-5

We have not seen this volume ourselves, but it comes recommended by a Solitaire Till Dawn customer, and we are happy to pass it along.

Moyle, Alphonse, Jr. (1950). 150 Ways to Play Solitaire. Whitman Publishing Company.

Moyle’s book is our favorite, and we would heartily recommend it except that it seems to be out of print. But see Scarne, below!

Scarne, John. (1991) Scarne’s Encyclopedia of Card Games. Harper&Row. ISBN 0-06-091052-6

With Moyle out of print, we were dismayed that we could not effectively recommend our favorite book of solitaires. We were delighted to discover this volume, which appears to contain the entire text of Moyle within its solitaire section.

U.S. Playing Card Company. (1991) Official Rules of Card Games.

This volume is now in its 74th edition and has been in print for well over a hundred years. It includes the rules for 11 solitaires, some of which appear in Solitaire Till Dawn. Look for it in game stores.