Soprafino Decks

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 12 Mar 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Jewel-ry	12 Mar 2004
Just bought one :) The Classic Tarot. Its based on a deck by Carlo Dellarocca. I am trying to justify buying this deck as I have bought 6 decks in the last week and am feeling just a little guilty! So help me out cos I need lots of reasons why it was a good idea! On a serious note, I have a book by Jonathon Dee which is illustrated by the Ancient Italian Tarot, a deck which I have often thought I would buy if I saw it. The classical deck is almost the same and when browsing today I came across it and just bought it! What a little beauty. I know very little about Soprafino decks but am really happy with this. I think its very loosely based on Marseille, but with softer lines. Does anyone else have this deck or an opinion on it? Here's a link: http://www.learntarot.com/cidesc.htm J :)

Centaur	12 Mar 2004
Hi J, It looks really nice! And I like the card-backs! The week is not over yet and you have bought six decks?!!!! LOL. C

Bean Feasa	12 Mar 2004
Hi Jewel-ry, It looks lovely - really elegant and atmospheric. The colours scheme looks lovely. Enjoy! As for justifications, erm, well let me see - I think that in the interests of international harmony and getting acquainted with pan-European culture now that we're all in Europe, you would just have to have at least one Italian deck ;) How's that? :) Kate

lark	12 Mar 2004
It's National Parmesan Cheese Day? :D Beautiful deck I've had my eye on that one for, for ever.

Emily	12 Mar 2004
Hi Jewel-ry, The Classic tarot was the second of the 3 Soprafino decks I bought, its very pretty, The Moon and Star cards are firm favourites but the colouring of the whole deck, with its strong but muted colours gives an old fashioned feel. And with the keywords being down the side they don't get in the way. If you like the Classic tarot then you might also like the Ancient Italian, very similiar decks - the Ancient Italian has no keywords though. :) Also the limited edition Tarocco Soprafino F Gumppenberg 1835, again a smaller version of the Classic, with no keywords. :) I don't like the Marseille woodcut effect but I do like the Soprafino decks. I also have the book, its very good.

lionette	12 Mar 2004
Very nice choice, Jewel-ry! You might like a daily ecard from Aleph Tarot , also printed by Gumppenberg (1820, Milan). Priming myself into some sort of Marseilles purchase but can't decide. I'll be interested to read your new deck spread!

Jewel-ry	12 Mar 2004
Quote: Originally posted by Emily Hi Jewel-ry, The Classic tarot was the second of the 3 Soprafino decks I bought, its very pretty, The Moon and Star cards are firm favourites but the colouring of the whole deck, with its strong but muted colours gives an old fashioned feel. And with the keywords being down the side they don't get in the way. If you like the Classic tarot then you might also like the Ancient Italian, very similiar decks - the Ancient Italian has no keywords though. :) Also the limited edition Tarocco Soprafino F Gumppenberg 1835, again a smaller version of the Classic, with no keywords. :) I don't like the Marseille woodcut effect but I do like the Soprafino decks. I also have the book, its very good. Hi Emily, I did have the Ancient Italian in mind when I bought this one. They are very similar though aren't they? I like the way the words go down the side of this deck, you almost don't see them and the colouring is gorgeous. I might look into the limited edition that you mention. What book do you have? Do you have a link to it? Where did you get it? I'm sorry for all the questions. J :)

Cerulean	12 Mar 2004
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15670&highlight=di+gumppenberg Di Gumppenberg and Dotti are 'collection points' for me. There's a new historic Dotti on alidastore.com on Mary Stuart...I do not see any net or Kaplan resources on it. In terms of Soprafino decks, the Dotti clan was a father - son of Eduardo and Teodoro that continuted the engraved Milan decks after Di Gumppenberg's passing.

Emily	13 Mar 2004
Hi Jewel-ry, It the same book you have by Jonathon Dee, I managed to pick up a cheap copy of it just after I bought my ancient Italian. The limited edition deck of 2000 is available from Alida. And for a limited edition deck its very affordable. Its a quite small and compact deck, made to look very handmade and it does look very special. :)

Jewel-ry	13 Mar 2004
Thanks for the link lionette. I like that deck too! Mari - Thankyou too! The thread you have started on Di gumppenburg variations was amazing. I didn't realise there were so many decks in that style. I got rather waylaid reading some of your links and saw a few more decks which I may like to add to my collection. :D Emily - oops didn't realise you were talking about the book I already have. BTW everyone, I have spent sometime with this deck, it is truly beautiful. The majors and court cards are a real eye-opener and I do feel the need to pursue the history behind these decks. Its the first time I have bought a deck which I dont feel the need to do readings with but just want to examine and look at. Some of the major cards are so expressive. Chariot, Sun and Justice, to name a few. Thanks for you input. J :)

The Soprafino Decks thread was originally posted on 12 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.