Das Tarockspiel der Visconti ( I Tarocchi dei Visconti )

Creator(s): Bonifacio Bembo or Francesco Zavattari
Date: 1977, 1974, 1450*
Country: Germany
Publisher: edition popp
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 3881550119
Type: Lombardy
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. I pp. 63-107, 285







Notes: 
The name Visconti Tarot is used collectively to refer to incomplete sets of approximately 15 decks from the middle of the 15th-century, now located in various museums, libraries, and private collections around the world. No complete deck has survived. For those three of them, which have the most surviving cards, exist today reprints.

One, which is named the Brera-Brambilla is located in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan it was painted for Filippo Maria Visconti, another is named the Visconti di Modrone pack and belongs to the Cary Collection at Yale University. At least the numeral cards for this pack were also painted for Filippo Maria Visconti, though it may be that the trumps and court cards are of a later date.  The third deck, which is referred to as the Visconti-Sforza, was painted for Francesco Sforza, who was married to Filippo Maria Visconti's only child Bianca Maria.

From this pack the Pierpont-Morgan Library in New York has 35 cards, the Accademia Carrara has 26 in its catalogue, while the remaining 13 cards are in the private collection of the Colleoni family in Bergamo.

"Das Tarockspiel der Visconti" is a reprint/restauration of the Visconti-Sforza Tarot. The original Italian edition from 1974 by Monumenta Lomgobardica was named "I Tarocchi dei Visconti", this is the German edition from 1977 printed by Grafica Gutenberg. It's a limited edition of 400, mine is number 3.

It is not sure, who the artist(s) for the Visconti decks were. Sometimes Bonifacio Bembo gets credited with the artwork, other scholars attribute the cards to Francesco Zavattari.

The Visconti-Sforza pack contains 74 cards, the four cards missing are The Devil, The Tower, Three of Swords and Knight of Coins. The replacement for the Knight of Coins was created by using a reversed image of the Knight of Cups and substituting a coin for the cup in the knights hand. The Three of Swords was made by erasing the two inner crossed swords from the Five of Swords. The Devil and The Tower were recreated in full color in a style as they may have appeared in the fifteenth century. The artist who recreated the missing cards is not named.


 Six of the cards ( Fortitude, Temperance, the Star, the Moon, the Sun and the World ) in this deck are likely made by a different artist than the other cards, four of those six later cards have the feature that in the foreground the earth terminates abruptly in a vertical cliff.

The pin holes at the top of each card do suggest that they were given or lent as artist’s models to other painters (this possibly explains how four cards are now missing). There are several incomplete sets, which contain one or more cards copied from this deck, sometimes reversed, sometimes with the original orientation.

Many cards contain either heraldic motifs or inscriptions such as “a bon droyt” or “amor myo”.The figures on the suit of bastoni wear silver pleated garments and carry a long staff. Those on the suit of cups wear gold garments, embellished by the heraldic device of sun and rays; each figure holds a large chalice.
The suit of swords shows figures dressed in full armour, carrying a large sword. The characters represented on the suit of coins wear garments decorated with blue ribbons wound around circular suns. The Knight of this suit is the only one not wearing a ducal crown.

Tarocchino Milanese a Doppia Figura

Creator(s): Bordoni
Date: 1880* reproduction 2000
Country: Italy
Publisher: Bordoni*, Il Meneghello
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:
Type: Milanese
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. IV pp. 680, 682







Notes:
This is a reproduction of a deck printed by Bordoni circa 1880.  The Ace of Coins contains an Italian monarchic tax stamp, 50 centesimi (valid mid-1880/1890s) and a stamp of the Milanese tax office dated 1890, but tax stamps don't give an exact date, because they may be applied years after the deck was first published.

This reproduction was printed as a limited and numbered edition of 2000 by Il Meneghello. There was another edition of the same deck - also by Il Meneghello - named "Tarocco Lombardo (a doppia figura)" that one is limited to 1500 copies.

This deck it is one of the earliest known to have double figures (doppia figura), or mirror reflections of the images on the cards. The back design shows a lancer on horseback.
 

The original was stencil colored lithography and has the backs printed on a separate sheet and glued to the cards, with the edges wrapped around the front. This edition also reproduces the backing paper edges on the front.

The cards came in a solid cardboard box with a wax seal of Il Meneghello.

Grand Etteilla

Creator(s): Etteilla
Date: 1826, 1970
Country: France
Publisher: Grimaud
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 
Type: Etteilla
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. II, p. 409








Notes:
Etteilla was the pseudonym of the french occultist Jean-Baptiste Alliette (1738 – 1791). In around 1770, he had created the Petit Etteilla, a cartomantic divinatory deck based on playing cards for the French card game piquet (32+1 cards). The Grand Etteilla was a purpose-built divinatory tarot deck designed by Etteilla around 1788. It was Etteilla's own deck, he did not publish any tarot decks during his lifetime, but some of the card images were used as illustrations in Etteilla's books on tarot. This type is referred to by card historians as Grand Etteilla I

The first known variant of Grand Etteilla I appeared in 1826, published by Pierre Mongie l'aine, an important Parisian bookseller and publisher. This deck was packaged in a green original box that has a label reading Le Grand Jeu de Cartes Soixtante-Dix-Huit Tarots, pour Dire La Bonne Aventure. L'Art de tirer les Cartes et les Tarots, ou l'explication de ce jeu, est en I vol. in-18, et coute 3 fr. pris a Paris, et  3 fr. 50 c. franc de port, chez Mongie aine, libraire, Boulevard Italien, No. 10. The hand colored cards show the same design as this Grimaud deck, except that there is no sun on card 1 and the figure on 14 Force Majeur are nude on this deck and clothed on the Grimaud deck. The 1826 version has blank backs.

It's interesting to compare the Dusserre Grand Etteilla (not to be confused with the Dusserre Tarot Égyptien) with the Grimaud Grand Etteilla. The Dusserre has rounded corners,
the older keywords and is a photoreproduction deck. The Grimaud has newer (revised) card keywords. The Dusserre's keywords are French only; the Grimaud's are bilingual French and English.

A variation, which differed only slightly from Grand Etteilla I, was published in 1838 by Simon Bloquel, this variation is referred to as Grand Etteilla II.

Like the Tarot de Marseille Etteilla’s deck has twenty-two Major Arcana and fifty-six Minor Arcana. But, aiming to restore the purported ancient Egyptian elements, Etteilla reinterpreted the Majors; he re-ordered them and often applied radically innovative iconography and new names. He did so in part because, as he explained in his book, the first seven Trumps should depict a creation myth. In addition, Etteilla first publicly assigned the zodiacal signs and Four Elements to selected cards. The Minors were also redesigned, but the changes were far less radical than with the Majors.

Tarocco Di Marsiglia (Svizzera 1804)

Creator(s): Jean Proche
Date: 1804* reproduction ?
Country: Switzerland, Italy
Publisher: Il Meneghello
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:
Type: Marseilles
Reference: Tarotgarden 








Notes:
The Marseilles pattern was produced not only in France but also in Fribourg and Neuchatel, Switzerland. This is a reproduction of the Swiss Marselles-pattern Tarot deck that was originally printed in Switzerland in 1804. It is an intermediate in style between the Marseilles and the Besancon patterns. This deck is an ancestor of those by Gassmann and Müller ("Tarot Classic").

One theory on the creator of this deck is, that the deck that had a second engraver engraving over the original. The signiature of the original creator on the Two of Coins was scratched out and another name put on instead on La Force and Le Diable. On La Force and Le Diable we can read "Engraved by Jean Proche", on Le Charior we found "J R", also on the Two of Coupes and the Four of Deniers. On the Two of Deniers the name of the supposed original cardmaker is mostly erased. "FAIT PAR JACQUE ROCHIAS FILS A NEUCHATEL" is a clear possibility.

The Hanged Man is similar to the Hanged Man from the Catelin Geofroy deck made in Lyon in 1557. The deck has a mis-titled card: The Cavallier De Coupe is actually the Knight of Pentacles. On L Empereur is the coat of arms of the principality of Neuchâtel.

The deck is republished by Il Meneghello in a limited edition of 2000 copies. It comes in a sturdy box with a lift-off lid and a wax seal. Mine is number 284.

Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set

Creator(s): A.E.Waite, Pamela Colman Smith
Date: 1910*, 2009
Country: USA
Publisher: US Games
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 978-1-57281-639-8   
Type: RWS
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. IV, pp. 484-491

Notes:
The Commemorative Set is a rather huge package. It included two books, the 78 cards and assorted extras, such as a little blue organza bag  for storing the deck, a fold out with tarot spreads as well as some postcards and pictures.

One book is Waite's "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot" except that the illustrations are not included (!).  The book is obviously a photographic reprint based upon either the 1910 or the 1922 edition; which one isn't mentioned. The missing pages with illustrations have forced a renumbering of the text pages, which makes this edition impossible to be used as a reference. 

The other book, "The Artwork and Times of Pamela Colman Smith" by Stuart R. Kaplan is a small biography. Pamela Colman Smith's life and family history are thoroughly covered and many colour illustrations of her art, most of them from Mr. Kaplan's own collection but also pieces from other sources are displayed throughout the book with notes that help the reader learn about the mediums that Colman-Smith worked with throughout her life (watercolor, ink, pencil, etc.) as well as all the different places where her work was featured (book illustrations,  magazines, etc.)

This deck is obviously a reprint of the same original `roses and lilies' deck from Kaplan's collection that was already used for the Original Rider Waite Tarot , but  the back pattern, which gave this edition its popular name, has disappeared to be substituted by one single `Irish rose' flanked by a stylized version of Smith's  signature. 

One major reproduction problem with this edition is that  the coloured background areas, particularly  the blue and grey areas are rather muddy and with larger grains than the original. 

Spanish Tarot

Creator(s): Giusseppe Ottone
Date: 1736*, 1975
Country: Spain
Publisher: Heraclio Fournier
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:   
Type: Piemontese
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. I, p. 277  

Notes:

This deck is based upon a Liguria-Piemontese Italian deck by Giuseppe Ottone, which was  first printed from the original wood blocks 1736 in Serravalle Sesia, Italy. The original deck is now located in the Museo Fournier, Vitoria, Spain.

On the 5 of Swords is a Spanish tax print, which was used between 1964 and 1979. The devil has an extra face on his stomach and eyes at his knees.

 The titles of the major arcana cards are given in both English and Spanish. The court card names are given in Spanish only. The Spanish names for the suits are: Bastos, Copas, Espadas and Oros. Bastos are curved and Espadas are straight. A small roman numeral at the bottom of each numbered suit card shows its number and orientation.

 The back design reproduces the back of the originalpack of 1736.

 This deck is available as the Spanish Tarot (Fournier version) and the Spanish-English Tarot (U. S. Games version).

Tarot de Marseille (Dusserre)

Creator(s): Paul Marteau 
Date: 1930*, 1990
Country: France
Publisher: Dusserre
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:
Type: Besancon / Marseilles
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol. I, p. 138

 

Notes:
This is an exact photoreproduction (except that the 2 of Coins has Dusserre written on it instead of Grimaud) of the Paul Marteau Deck from 1930, which is part of the collection of the French Biblioteque Nationale. It has the fleurs-de-lys on the four of coins (not the tulip as later the editions by Grimaud) and on the magicans table are no dice but only coins.

The cards have the red stamp of the Bibliothéque national at the bottom. The cardboard used is thinner and the colors are lighter than in the Grimaud edition.

Grand Tarot Belline

Creator(s): Edmond Billaudot
Date: 1863, 1966
Country: France
Publisher: Grimaud
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN: 
Type: Marseilles
Reference: A Wicked Pack of Cards pp. 202-203   

Notes: 

Le Grand Tarot Belline was drawn by hand using pen and ink, around 1863 by "Magus Edmond" (Edmond Billaudot,1829-1881). The decks name comes from the French cartomancer Marcel Belline, who years later discovered the deck, sold the printing rights to Grimaud and then donated the originals to the Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires in Paris. Grimaud published them 1966 with many reprints there after. The earlier editions can be distinguished by the more generously rounded corners.

The deck is using ideas from Etteilla, Éliphas Leví, and Paul Christian. Each card is divided into four sections, upper and lower bands, and upper and lower fields. Written on the upper band is Leví's mundane kabalistic letter for the Majors, the Gematria number and  Paul Christian astrological correspondences. The Red Key-Words are the same as in  Jeu Du Grand Etteilla. The bottom band of the card contains the card name, the bottom field of the card contains a proverb specific to the card.

The gilt edged cards are large (159mm x 75mm), they came in a  black box, with golden title and red velure interior, complete with red ribbon to lift the cards.

There is a Translated Documentation of the cards by Paula Goodman, with an introduction by Dan Pelletier at Tarot Garden.

Sola Busca Tarot (Mayer)

Creator(s): Nicola di Maestro Antonio
Date: 1491, 1998
Country: Italy, Germany
Publisher: Wolfgang Mayer
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:   
Type: Ferrarese
Reference: Pinacoteca di Brera







Notes:
Mayer printed only 700 copies and added a card (front in german and back in english) where he gave some explications about the deck. This special card has the handwritten signature of Mayer and a number.

After the death of the german printer in 2012, Giordano Berti bought some copies of the deck and added a handmade box  in form of a book  and a LWB titled “Sola-Busca Tarot. Secret code of Alchemy” that explains briefly the history of the deck, the significances of the 78 cards and a simple method to use them.

The card images are in original size (78 x 146 mm) but with an additional border around the cards rendering them a bit larger (150 x 82 mm ). The paper is slightly rough and opaque, about 0,5 mm thick. The cards are not laminated. The backs are blank.

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

Tarot Egyptien

Creator(s): G. Regamey, Haugard-Mauge

Date: 1890*, 1985
Country: France
Publisher: Dusserre
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:  
Type: Etteilla
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol.III, p. 587 








Notes:
This Etteilla  type deck was originally published by Delarue of Paris around the turn of the century. The tax stamp on the two of swords was valid from 1890 to 1917. The original title was 78 Tarots Egyptiens Grand Jeu de L'Oracle des Dames. A case for the deck in the British Museum indicates that the designer was G. Regamey and the lithographer was Haugard-Mauge.

The reprint was issued 1985 by Dusserre with a pink and white geometrical back design. It was a reproduction of a deck in the Bibliotheque Nationale De Paris

Lismon Etteilla Tarot

Creator(s):  Z. Lismon
Date: 1890*, 2012
Country: France
Publisher: Blocquel*, HistoricalRetrospective
Number of Cards: 78
ISBN:   
Type: Etteilla
Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, vol.II, pp. 404, 405







Notes: 
The Lismon Etteilla is of type Grand Etteilla II and was -according to Dummett- the work of Simon Blocquel, a publisher at Lille, who worked in collaboration with his father-in-law Jean-Baptist Castiaux. The two of them liked using anagrammatic pseudonyms such as Blismon, Z. Lismon, Zlismon, Buqcellos, Milbons and Monblis.  A French biography of Blocquel can be found here.

The first evidence for this deck was in a book called Le Grand Etteilla, ou l'Art de tirer les cartes published 1838 by Blocquel, which served to advertise his new version of  Etteilla's cards. The authors name, Julia Orsini, maybe another pseudonym of Blocquel.

There were at least four editions of the Lismon Etteilla between 1838 and 1917, the oldest one (1838), which was mentioned in Kaplans Encyclopedia, has a misspelling of "Eteilla" on card number one, the following editions have the correct spelling "Etteilla".

Tax stamps for playing cards in France were abolished in 1790 and return in 1890, lasting until 1917. Thus the tax stamp on the Two of Swords dates a deck between 1890 and 1917.

The second edition (e.g. see  here) has a correct spelling of Etteilla, a complete upper left wreath on card #74 but no tax stamp, thus it dates before 1890.

The third edition can be seen on the British Museum page,  it has a tax stamp on the Two of Swords (thus it dates after 1890) and a complete upper left wreath on card #74.

The fourth edition has a tax stamp on the Two of Swords and a missing part in the upper left wreath of card #74, possibly because the printing block has got damaged. The reprint by HistoricalRetrospective was from the fourth edition.

 All Grand Etteilla II editions have on the Ace of Wands  Chute or "Fall" as the upright and the reversed is Naissance or "Birth" (The 1900-20 Grimaud Etteilla ''corrects" this so that Birth/Naissance is the upright and Fall/Chute is reversed).

Grand Etteilla II was engraved on wood and did not diverge greatly from the original Etteilla deck. The titles are printed on both sides of the picture frame. Some images and keywords are different from Etteilla’s original deck. The Coins have become wreaths enclosing a quatrefoil. The lower panels on the numeral cards are new. The cards 1,10,12,15 and 21 have been redesigned.