Hi Niclas,
As far as I know, there is no monograph on the profession of "cardmaker" through history, either in general or even locally. I am not expert in this, however - the first person to ask might be Thierry Depaulis.
Most of what I know is scattered around in sections of books - you'll need a good library nearby or deep pockets to start researching it.
Henri René D'Allemagne,
Les cartes à jouer du XIVe au XXe siècle (Paris, 1906)
This focuses on France (including Strasbourg), but it is still the biggest overall survey of all aspects of cardmaking for any country. There are more specific studies of Avignon, Marseille and Paris that supercede D'Allemagne, but Lyon remains to be done properly.
Arthur Mayger Hind,
An Introduction to a History of Woodcut, with a Detailed Survey of Work Done in the Fifteenth Century, 2 volumes (1935; reprinted by Dover, 1963, very affordable and absolutely worth buying)
Wilhelm-Ludwig Schreiber,
Handbuch der Holz und Metallschnitte des XV. Jahrhunderts, 8 volumes (2nd ed., 1926-1930)
A reference work, obviously, but it remains the standard catalogue of known impressions from wood and metal - you can catch up with discoveries since then.
Wilhelm-Ludwig Schreiber,
Die ältesten Spielkarten und die auf das Kartenspiel Bezug habenden Urkunden des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts
(especially chapters 5 and 6)
I'll try to answer your questions, but don't take my word for it. The following are my impressions, off the top of my head, without looking anything up.
Usually I am pretty good at searching on the net to find out things, but this question has left me without much results - maybe the History group could help:
What do we know about the social and economic situation of woodcut print cardmakers?
A general answer would be that it varies depending on your role in the process.
I mean with regard to things like
- How many manufacturers would there be in a "card-producing city" at the same time?
Sometimes just a handful, sometimes scores. I believe Ulm and Nuremberg were the largest cardmaking cities in Europe in the first half of the 15th century, with several dozen each, while Lyon quickly surpassed them and by 1500 had as many as 100 cardmakers at the same time (or between 1490 and 1510, if I remember Depaulis' count from some time ago).
- How many people would they typically employ?
I can't answer that at all.
- Would they have a guild system?
Not at first. I believe the English had the first guild cardmakers (17th century).
- Would they have the full apprentice-journeyman-master system, considering that, once the woodblocks exist, there is much unskilled labour involved?
My impression is that it was an apprentice-master system - often father-son. The plates could be acquired by someone else later though, and reused.
To give you an idea of what went on, here is a depiction of a card factory in Paris in the 1680s -
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6FZgFzLwlho/UCV2eAW-XcI/AAAAAAAAEK4/gSOhzN0eoCs/s1600/cardmaker-shop.jpg
- What would their social status be, compared to other artisans?
I don't know how to compare with other artisans, but for those involved it was lucrative. In the 17th-18th century in France, cardmakers could be government officials too, aldermen, that kind of thing, so I imagine the same was possible in Germany and Italy.
I know I did not specify a time, that is because the topic does interest me during the whole area of mass woodcut card making.
Any help, even just pointing me to the right keywords to feed to Google, would be much appreciated. Also, documented facts are what I really am looking for, but in their absence, educated guesses are welcome, too ;-)
Hope that helps a bit. If I think of anything more specific, I'll post it for you. Good luck in your research!
Ross