Rare c. 1880s Palmer Cox Brownies Matching Game Cards (Partial Set) toy top But what makes this one

But what makes this one particularly intriguing is that pasted to the back of the painting and written in pencil in a childlike hand

Pohl was absorbed by Horner Co

handmade paper cover that makes it feel rather as if it might contain the secrets to the universe

A bit of bleed/burn to the ink on a couple of names but overall dark

Nice warm patina to the dry wood

Rare c. 1880s Palmer Cox Brownies Matching Game Cards (Partial Set) toy top But what makes this oneThese seem to be quite the rare cards; I have only found one reference to them out there, from a baseball card afficionado relative to the two baseball player depictions included! Certainly there is a fair amount of material out there featuring the Brownies imaginary sprites invented by Canadian author and illustrator Palmer Cox, apparently based on Celtic mythology and highland Scottish tales told to Cox by his grandmother but these I believe are