Sources page probability recreations

Ff. 210r - 210v, Part 2, Capit^o. CIIII. Do(cumento). cavare' et mettere' .2. cirege' in una carta tramezzatta (To remove and replace two cherries in a cut card). = Peirani 288-289. Description clearly shows there is one hole, but Dario Uri illustrates this with the picture from Alberti which has two holes.

Ff. 215v - 216v, Part 2, Capitulo. CX. Do(cumento). uno bottone' de un balestro. o vero doi cirege' de un botone' et valestro (A button from a (cross)bow or two cherries from a button and bow). = Peirani 296-297. Dario Uri translates 'balestro' as 'flexible stick' and illustrates this with Alberti's Fig. 37.

Schwenter. 1636. Part 10, exercise 30, p. 411. Version using a card.

Witgeest. Het Natuurlyk Tover-Boek. 1686.

Prob. 18, pp. 160-161. Elaborate card version.

Prob. 19, pp. 162-163. Cherries, with two holes.

Ozanam. 1725.

Vol. IV, prob. 30, p. 434 & fig. 36, plate 11 (13). Version using a tube.

Vol. IV, prob. 33, p. 436 & fig. 39, plate 12 (14). "On peut passer des queues de Cerises dans un papier, ...." Two holes.

Minguet. 1733. Pp. 112-113 (1755: 79; 1822: 131-132; 1864: 110-111). Cherries version. Similar to Ozanam, prob. 33. Two holes and one hole are both shown.

Alberti. 1747. Loc. cit. in 11.A.

Art. 30, pp. 204 205 (108) and fig. 37, plate X, opp. p. 206 (between pp. 108 & 109) Version using a tube. Taken from Ozanam.

Art. 33, pp. 207-208 (109 110) and fig. 40, plate XI, opp. p. 210 (109). "Si possono passare dai gambi di cerase in una carta....". Two holes. Taken from Ozanam.

Catel. Kunst-Cabinet. 1790. Die verbundenen Kirschen, pp. 13-14 & fig. 18 on plate I.

Bestelmeier. 1801. Item 273: Der verschlungenen Kirschen. Copies part of Catel's text.

Manuel des Sorciers. 1825. Pp. 182-183: Le jeu des cerises.

The Boy's Own Book.

The cherry cheat. 1828: 418; 1828-2: 423; 1829 (US): 215; 1855: 570; 1868: 672.

The card puzzle. 1828: 422 423; 1828-2: 427-428; 1829 (US): 219; 1843 (Paris): 437 & 441, no. 12; 1855: 574; 1868: 676. c= Magician's Own Book, 1857. = Wehman, New Book of 200 Puzzles, 1908, pp. 38-39.

Child. Girl's Own Book. Heart, dart, and key. 1833: 138-139; 1839: 122-123; 1842: 203 204. A variation of the card version with the key as the ring. Cf: Secret Out: Magician's Own Book (UK).

Nuts to Crack II (1833), no. 92. The card puzzle. Almost identical to Boy's Own Book.

Crambrook. 1843. P. 4, no. 16: Cherry Cheat Puzzle. Check??

Family Friend 2 (1850) 208 & 239. Practical Puzzle, No. VII. Repeated as Puzzle 10 -- The button puzzle in (1855) 339 with solution in (1856) 28 . = The Illustrated Boy's Own Treasury, 1860, Practical Puzzles, No. 43, pp. 403 & 442. Identical to Magician's Own Book, prob. 11. Cherries puzzle using buttons.

Magician's Own Book. 1857.

Prob. 11: The button puzzle, pp. 269 & 294. Identical to Family Friend with slight changes of wording. = Wehman, New Book of 200 Puzzles, 1908, p. 15.

Prob. 19: The card puzzle, pp. 272-273 & 296. Identical to Boy's Own Book card puzzle, except the answer is split from the problem, but the problem refers to the figures which are now in the answer!

Book of 500 Puzzles. 1859.

Prob. 11: The button puzzle, pp. 83 & 108. Identical to Magician's Own Book.

Prob. 19: The card puzzle, pp. 86-87 & 110. Identical to Magician's Own Book.

The Secret Out. 1859. Key, Heart, and Arrow, pp. 390-391. As in Girl's Own Book, but with much better pictures and clearer text. Cf Magician's Own Book (UK).

Boy's Own Conjuring Book. 1860.

Prob. 10: The button puzzle, pp. 230 & 257. Identical to Magician's Own Book.

Prob. 18: The card puzzle, 234 & 259. Identical to Magician's Own Book.

Magician's Own Book (UK version). 1871.

The string and button puzzle, p. 326.

Key, heart, and dart, pp. 232-233. As in The Secret Out, the text is not as detailed.

Elliott. Within Doors. Op. cit. in 6.V. 1872. Chap. 1, no. 10: The button puzzle, pp. 29 & 31.

Hanky Panky. 1872. The undetachable cylinder, pp. 125 126. Card version.

Martin Appleton Wright. UK Patent 7002 -- Improved Advertisement Cards. Dated: 28 Apr 1884 and 30 Apr 1884. 1p + 2pp diagrams. Card versions.

Gaston Tissandier. Jeux et Jouets du jeune age Choix de récréations amusantes & instructives. Ill. by Albert Tissandier. G. Masson, Paris, nd [c1890]. No. 10-11: Le problème des cerises, pp. 40-41, with elegant coloured plate.

William Crompton. The odd half-hour. The Boy's Own Paper 13 (No. 657) (15 Aug 1891) 731-732. The slippery buttons.

Handy Book for Boys and Girls. Op. cit. in 6.F.3. 1892. Pp. 57-59: The boot puzzle. Card version with a pair of boots.

Tom Tit, vol. 3. 1893. Le jeu de la fève, pp. 225-226. = K, no. 171: The bean trick, pp. 394 395. Card version, using a bean pod to make all the parts.

Hoffmann. 1893. Chap. II, no. 24: The ball and three strings, pp. 34 35 & 59 60 = Hoffmann-Hordern, pp. 38-39, with photos. This is a more complex puzzle, but based on the same principle. A string goes around other strings, through a ball and then has ends separately knotted, so you have to bring the other strings through the ball in order to release the string. Drawing based on Jaques' puzzle. Photos on p. 39 show The Three-String Ball Puzzle, with instructions, by Jaques & Son, in its original state and with the strings through the ball, 1870-1900.

Benson. 1904. The ball and strings puzzle, p. 217. As in Hoffmann.

Anon. Triangular string puzzle. Hobbies 31 (No. 793) (24 Dec 1910) 302-303. Same as Hoffmann, with the strings inside a triangular prism

Williams. Home Entertainments. 1914. String and button puzzle, p. 112. Cherries puzzle using buttons.

Hummerston. Fun, Mirth & Mystery. 1924. The buttons puzzle, Puzzle no. 73, pp. 160 & 183.

Collins. Book of Puzzles. 1927. The bachelor's button puzzle, pp. 22-23.

A. B. Nordmann. One Hundred More Parlour Tricks and Problems. Wells, Gardner, Darton & Co., London, nd [1927 -- BMC]. No. 88: The button trick, pp. 80-82. This is a card version, but with a string and buttons. The card has two long parallel cuts, as in the leather version, but it then has two slots off to the side that the string goes through. One has to fold the card to superimpose these two slots, then fold it again to bring the thin strip to these slots.

11.D. SOLOMON'S SEAL
See S&B, p. 114. Slocum and Gebhardt have pointed out that there are two approaches to this problem, particularly in the two ball case, depending on how the ends of the string are attached to the board. If the string is passed through a hole and a knot is tied in the string, rather than tying the string to the board, then one can partially undo the central loop by passing it through the end hole and around the end of the string -- repeating with a slight change completely undoes the central loop. This approach makes the problem really a form of 11.I. The only example in print that I have seen is in Hobbies, 1910. However, I think that in most cases with a knot in the string, the indicated size of the hole in the board is too small to permit a loop to pass through and this method is not possible.

I have recently acquired an example of the Waterloo Puzzle, produced by Jaques, c1900, and seen other examples at James Dalgety's. This has seven holes in a bone plank. There are four small holes at the corners and three larger holes on the midline, say A, B, C in order. Two strings run lengthwise between pairs of end holes, but one dips into the centre hole B. The small holes seem too small to admit another string, and the dip makes a very small loop on the other side. (The other string has some slack in it and probably could also be brought through to make a double dip.) A loop starts around both upper strings, goes down through hole A, through a ring, through the small dip (which is barely big enough for two strings), through another ring and up through hole C and around both strings. I cannot decide if the string has been broken and then erroneously restrung. Dalgety has provided a copy of the instructions which say the object is to remove the rings. The instructions also state that the loop has to be passed through each of the end holes to pass around the ends of the strings -- at present, there is not enough slack to do this and it would be difficult to get that much string into the small holes.

Pacioli. De Viribus. c1500. Ff. 206v-207r, Part 2, Capitulo. CI. Do(cumento) un altro filo pur in .3. fori in la stecca con unambra. per sacca far le andare' tutte in una (Another string also through three holes in the stick with one bead per loop, make them go onto one (loop)). = Peirani 283 284. The problem titles vary between the actual problem and the Table of Contents and the latter shows that 'unambra' should be 'una ambra' -- Peirani has given it as un'ambra. Sacca means pocket or bay or inlet and it seems clear he means a loop which has that sort of shape. Ambra is amber, but seems to mean an amber bead here. Sadly there is no picture though the text refers to one.

Schwenter. 1636. Part 10, exercise 27, pp. 408-410. With two rings.

Witgeest. Het Natuurlyk Tover-Boek. 1686. Prob. 43, pp. 33-34. Clearly taken from Schwenter.

Ozanam. 1725. Vol. IV, prob. 40, pp. 439 440 & fig. 47, plate 14 (16). Le Sigillum Salomonis, ou Sceau de Salomon -- version with four rings.

Alberti. 1747. Art. 40, pp. 214 (112) and fig. 48, plate XIII, opposite p. 214 (111). Il Sigillum Salomonis, o Sigillo Salomone -- version with 4 rings. Taken from Ozanam.

Catel. Kunst-Cabinet. 1790. Die Salomonsringe, pp. 14-15 & fig. 24 on plate I. Version with 4 rings. Describes how to solve it.

Bestelmeier. 1801. Item 214: Die Salomons Ringe. Version with 3 rings. Brief text.

Boy's Own Book. 1843 (Paris): 438 & 442, no. 17: The bead puzzle. "This puzzle may be procured at many toy-shops." = Boy's Treasury, 1844, pp. 426 & 430, no. 14.

Family Friend 3 (1850) 30 & 61. Practical puzzle -- No. XI. Love's Puzzle with two hearts. = The Sociable, 1858, Prob. 24: Love's Puzzle, pp. 294 & 310. = Book of 500 Puzzles, 1859, prob. 24, pp. 12 & 28.

Magician's Own Book. 1857. Prob. 37: The string and balls puzzle, pp. 277-278 & 301. Two balls. = Boy's Own Conjuring Book, 1860, prob. 36, pp. 240-241 & 265. = Wehman, New Book of 200 Puzzles, 1908, p. 9.

Book of 500 Puzzles. 1859.