Tarocco Italiano (Dotti)

Creator(s): Teodoro Dotti
Date: 1845* reproduction 1985
Country: Italy
Publisher: Il Meneghello
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:
Type: Marseilles
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. III, pp. 179, 181








Notes:
This is a reproduction of a deck originally printed by Teodoro Dotti circa 1845. He and his son Edoardo published many decks based upon these designs, though most of these were woodcut decks. An engraved deck such as this one would have cost more because of the skill and time required for the finer lines.

Dotti's playing card factory  was in direct competition with Ferdinando Gumppenberg's factory at that  time. Gumppenberg's Soprafino Tarot  was published ca. 1835 and there are many similarities between the two decks.

Trump XIV has the unusual title of L’Intemperanza instead of the usual La Temperanza. This probable misspelling was copied onto a few subsequent decks.

The small cards have square corners and the backs have a regular pattern of dots.There is no LWB or instructions of any kind.

The poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) kept a Dotti pack for his personal use. The deck is in the collection of Yeats's memorabilia and has upright and reverse meanings written on the cards in the poet's hand