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Edwards H. Metcalf Collection of Playing Cards

  • Playing cards exhibition featuring title in Scrabble letters
  • Southern Pacific deck back
  • Southern Pacific deck; five of clubs with Market Street San Francisco photograph
  • Southern Pacific deck; king of hearts with Wolf Creek Oregon
  • Deck of cards: White Pass Yukon deck
  • Spanish Miniature playing cards
  • Group of tarot cards
  • Another group of tarot cards
  • Detail of one of the taror cards
  • Deck of cards with floral patterns
  • Deck of cards from Mexico
  • Deck of cards from Germany
  • Back of Man-Chu deck
  • front of select Man-Chu cards


Edwards H. Metcalf (1911–2001) was a collector, Pepperdine University board member, and grandson of Henry Edwards Huntington—the railroad tycoon and founder of the Huntington Library, Art Gallery, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. A T.E. Lawrence enthusiast, Metcalf massed diverse collections, including vintage playing cards dating from the early 1800s to the mid-1900s. His collection features a variety of card games, such as Man-Chu, fortune-telling decks, and court cards. During summer 2025, Pepperdine Libraries is pleased to showcase this collection in the exhibit cases in Payson Library's Special Collections Wing.