the name given to certain card-games played by a single person. Although known for centuries, they have seldom been mentioned by writers on playing-cards, and the rules have for the most part been handed down orally. There are two main varieties; in one luck alone prevails, since the player has no choice of play but must follow strict rules; in the other an opportunity is given for the display of skill and judgment, as the player has the choice of several plays at different stages of the game. The usual object is to bring the cards into regular ascending or descending sequences. The starting card is called the "foundation," and the "family" (sequence) is "built" upon it. In other varieties of Patience the object is to make pairs, which are then discarded, the game being brought to a successful conclusion when all the cards have been paired; or to pair cards which will together make certain numbers, and then discard as before. There are hundreds of Patience games, ranging from the simplest to the most complicated.
See Jarbart's Games of Patience in De la Rue's series of handbooks (1905); Patience Games, by "Cavendish" (London, 1890); Cyclopaedia of Card and Table Games, by Professor Hoffmann (London, 1891); Patience Games, by Professor Hoffmann (London, 1892); Games of Patience, by A. Howard Cady (Spalding's Home Library, New York, 1896); Dick's Games of Patience, edited by W. B. and H. B. Dick (New York, 1898); Games of Patience (4 series), by Mary E. W. Jones (London, 1898); Le Livre illustre des patiences, by "Comtesse de Blanccoeur" (Paris, 1898).