52 cards, forming 13 sets of four, that is, four characters from the same book. You will need a number of coins or buttons before play begins because, as was often the case in Victorian games, players must place a stake into the 'Pool', which will go to the eventual winner. Play involves a player leading a character card, say, from Oliver Twist. The next player must follow suit if he has an Oliver Twist character in his hand. The next does likewise and if a trick is completed, the player completing takes the cards and they will form one trick. If a player wins 3 tricks before the cards are exhausted, he wins the game. The date is a guess but it must be in the late 1850's because three books are not mentioned, including Great Expectations, which were not published until after that time.