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Bridge can trace its
source at least to the early sixteenth century in England and through succeeding centuries when prototype forms of whist were
played under such names as triumph, trump, ruff slam, ruff andhonors, whisk and swabbers, whisk, and whist. Whisk
may have referred to the rapid action of sweeping up the cards after winning a trick, or "whist" to a call of silence,
the game was popular under its modern name of whist by the middle of the 17 century, but it was not until 1742 that the first
book devoted to whist appeared: Edmond Hoyle's famous "Short Treatise." This rapidly became a best-seller and many pirated
editions appeared immediately afterwards. Whist maintained its popularity as a fashionable amusement,
and in 1834 Lord Henry Bentinck invented the HIGH-LOW signal. This was the forerunner of much research and writing by authorities
on the game such as Clay Deschapelles, Cavendish, and many others.
The first game of duplicate
whist was apparently played in London in 1857 under Cavendish’s direction. It was intended to demonstrate the advantage
accruing to skillful play, and a team of supposedly good players was deliberately pitted against supposedly poor opposition.
Of course the good players won easily. Cavendish observed that this procedure all but eliminated the luck of
the deal, but his pioneering effort was not followed for nearly a quarter of a century.
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