Ancient Tarot of Piedmont-Liguria (Lo Scarabeo)

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 Mar 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Diana	16 Mar 2004
I received a copy of the Lo Scarabeo version of the Ancient Tarot of Piedmont-Liguria. Supposedly a reproduction of an 18th century deck. I was really looking forward to receiving it and to be able to once again slip back in time and spend some pleasant moments with the Ancients. What a disappointment. At the bottom of each card, they have written in four languages what the card is. For example, they have written “Four of Chalices” in four different languages. This was quite unnecessary. Any idiot can see that there are four Cups on the card. (And why “Chalices”??? Can’t they call them cups, for heaven’s sake – this is not a pagan deck - it's an 18th Century deck); “Wands”! :eek: (Wands is a Rider Waite term – it has nothing to do with an 18th Century tarot either); “Pentacles” – PENTACLES????????? There are no pentacles there. They are Denari. They are quite obviously coins. Ask any kid what he sees and he will tell you "money!!!" Nothing to do with magical pentacles – upright or downright. And by putting these translations in four different languages, I do NOT have a reproduction of the 18th century deck. It spoils the whole thing! And they even added numbers on the bottom, for instance a 3, 4, 5…. just in case we cannot count that there are three batons, or three coins, or whatever. Tarot enthusiasts normally know how to count – numbers are an integral part of the study of Tarot. And the cardstock is so glossy. They didn’t have such glossy paper in the olden days. It kind of SHINES!!! I’m going to trade it as soon as I can. And stick to editors who respect traditions. Lo Scarabeo has always got on my nerves for personal reasons, but this time my chalice :D has overflown.

Marion	16 Mar 2004
Yes, and LS is not noted for letting out scans of the whole deck either. Sorry it worked out so badly. LS does seem to have a sort of standard frame for all their cards. Might not be a good publisher for you.

Lee	16 Mar 2004
The older LS reproductions like this one tend to have the new titles and numbers, but their more recent reproductions (like Ancient Italian Tarot and Ancient Tarot of Marseille) just show the cards exactly as they were with no modern titles/numbers. I agree, I would rather see them as they were. -- Lee

Centaur	17 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Diana I’m going to trade it as soon as I can. You might have a tough time trading after all the bad press you just gave it. LOL. C

Diana	17 Mar 2004
Centaur: I was actually wondering if you wouldn't be interested. :laugh: Actually, there are lots of Lo Scarabeo fans on this forum. I'm sure someone would appreciate it... No, I'm thinking I may cut it up and use it to make a collage or something. It's not worth keeping for historical or reading purposes.

lark	17 Mar 2004
After reading your thread I was just going to ask how you liked the pictures? Because you could always cut the borders off and just use it that way.

Centaur	17 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Diana Centaur: I was actually wondering if you wouldn't be interested. :laugh: LOL... I don't think it suits my tastes! :) C

Diana	17 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by lark After reading your thread I was just going to ask how you liked the pictures? Because you could always cut the borders off and just use it that way. Yes, but then the borders are all square and not rounded! And to try and round them myself with scissors all in the same way will be hard. I tried doing that on the title card, but it doesn't look nice. :( Although my husband said I'm silly, 'cos if I want a historical looking deck, then the cards were probably not rounded anyway in the corners in the 18th Century. And then there's the problem of the glossy cardstock. I would need to sandpaper them or something!!!!! And I thought of just cutting the bottom off, but then the tops would be rounded and not the bottoms and that will look horrid.

lark	17 Mar 2004
It seems what we tarot people need is a pair of rounding scissors. Other hobbies have there tools why can't we have some too!

Le_Corsair	17 Mar 2004
I have the same deck and hate it for the same reason as Diana. If you're going to reproduce an historical deck, it should look to the eye the same as the original it came from, save for new cardstock and finish. Are the multilingual titles some sort of stupid European Union regulation that Lo Scab has to satisfy? Bob :THERM

Macavity	17 Mar 2004
As I once said, I might upgrade some of my "Historical" decks to the Meneghello versions. I particulary NEED a really decent copy of the Soprafino DellaRocca 1835. I have the feeling these are starting to become rarer? Don't buy the last one, people! ;) From the LoS stables, there is the Ancient Tarot of Lombardy. Not to all tastes, but I agree with the AeT review that it has a kind of understated charm? MInd you that is an older(?) version (no LWB and the nine extra cards) But it doesn't have "Mrs Bunn the Bakers Wife" written on the edges anyway! :D Macavity P.S. Card "corner rounders" do appear to exist from certain magical suppliers!

Diana	17 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Le_Corsair Are the multilingual titles some sort of stupid European Union regulation that Lo Scab has to satisfy? Bob :THERM LOL!!! The EU has some pretty stupid rules and regulations, but I've never heard of this one. :D :D :D

Diana	18 Mar 2004
I've cut off all the bottoms. And have snipped off the bottom corners. They are not rounded, but they look okay. I tried rubbing the title card with the rough side of the sponge one uses to clean pots and pans to try and make the card look less shiny but that didn't work. Am trying to figure out if there's another method, but I don't suppose so. Any ideas? Sandpaper maybe? Or will that give the same result as a sponge? Lucky I got this deck cheap from e-bay.

Lee	18 Mar 2004
Hi Diana, you might try Umbrae's method: Quote: From Umbrae's "The Process" article My decks are "prepared". Each card is placed on a table edge and slid abruptly downward, my free hand holding the sliding card flat on the tabletop. This puts an extreme bend on each card. This is done diagonally, horizontally, and vertically from both sides. It removes the stiffness, so cards do not "shoot out" while shuffling. It also breaks down some of the factory gloss reducing the glossy slide factor. This does not shorten the life span of your deck; in fact, it reduces the probability of creased and folded cards. It does help the deck look "used". -- Lee

Diana	18 Mar 2004
I have never noticed that this method of Umbrae's removes the gloss. But it's a fantastic method for getting your cards to shuffle properly. I have done it on all my decks, several times in fact. I'll try it out on this new deck and see if maybe the gloss comes off a bit. Thanks Lee.

ScarabFlight	18 Mar 2004
This is in regards to rounded corners: scrapbooking supplies have a little thing that looks like a paper punch but you put the corner of the paper in it and it rounds the edge by cutting off the square part, that way all the edges would be the same. I don't know if this kind of thing will help with the edges of a tarot card or not. If you try sandpaper I would try with a very, very fine grit first. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Rusty Neon	18 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Diana LOL!!! The EU has some pretty stupid rules and regulations, but I've never heard of this one. :D :D :D If there is such a rule in the EU, then putting 5 languages on the card titles wouldn't meet the requirements. The EU has some 20 official languages (and the number grows with each new country admitted). http://europa.eu.int/ That page is the EU's web portal pages and shows some 20 languages, allowing you to get into any one of 20 different languages of the EU website.

Diana	18 Mar 2004
ScarabFlight: Thanks for the tip. I'll go up to town tomorrow and see if I can find such an object. And I'll test the sandpapering as suggested. I have nothing to lose!

The Ancient Tarot of Piedmont-Liguria (Lo Scarabeo) thread was originally posted on 16 Mar 2004 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.