The Italian (deck) Challenge

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 26 Dec 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Macavity	26 Dec 2002
Having (somewhat) understood the major tarot deck groupings e.g. http://tarothermit.com/lineage.htm I would be interested in trying to assemble a small collection of representative historical decks. For larger groups (Marseille/Waite-clones etc.), I can already make a (my!) choice. But these "Ancient Italians" are proving more of a challenge! ;) (Conveniently?) There is a good 1:1 correspondance between TarotHermit and e.g. the Lo Scarabeo's series: Piedmont/Liguria = Ancient Tarrot of Liguria-Piedmont Milan/Lombardy = Ancient Tarot of Lombardy Ferrara/Venice = Tarot of Mantegna Bologna = Ancient Tarot of Bologna Florence = Ancient Minchiate-Fiorentine Sicily - ?? To this, I would probably add some one-off's e.g. the "Classical" (Della Rocca - Ooops that's actually French?) the "Enlightened Ancient" (Sola Busca), the "Ancient Italian" (Serravalle Sesia) and (various!) "Visconti" types - OK, I like the Gold one :D Are there any REAL omissions or OBVIOUS duplications? "Better" ones even? Mac P.S. I appreciate these are wide-ranging and vague questions and opinion comes in, but any thoughts would be appreciated on my little LIST. :) The total number of decks involved makes purchase a considered and gradual process anyway...

Cerulean	26 Dec 2002
Lo Scarabeo will be coming out in 2004 with the D'Este, which had been misnamed in the past as the Charles the VI pattern and attributed to French sources. Historians suggest now that it came from Fererra. If you decide to expand or bridge your collection in historical Italian tarocchis while awaiting for this variation, I suggest some of the secondary variations named by Tom Tadforlittle: The Minchiate for it's odd 80 some cards and astrological assignments is a secondary variation that is not crucial, but quite interesting. I have some interest in Florentine artists and writers because of the courses that I am taking. The Mitelli from Bologna is another variation and beautifully engraved, but it only has limited number of minor cards for their game. If you want to go forward in the 1800s, the Vachetta (Tarot of the Masters), and a few of the Di Gumppenberg variations seem quite fun. Mark Filpas Pasteboard Masquerade has some fun reviews on Di Gumppenberg variations (Trade Sights of Milan and Della Rocca---they are still available at Alidastore.com). I think that Tarot Passages has a review of the Vachetta/Tarot of the Masters by Lo Scarabeo. Best wishes from a borrowed inlaw computer Mari H. P.S. I'll be back next Sunday, but wanted to post on this delightful question---hail the historical enthuasitics....

The The Italian (deck) Challenge thread was originally posted on 26 Dec 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.