A little more tarot play in America in NY Times 1887

philebus

I stumbled upon this the other day, it is a short article from the New York Times from 1887 that makes mention of the games being played in the States. The writer's expert seems, as Mr Pinkerton (http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=88767&highlight=minchiate) a little unfamiliar with the games, despite his claims. I can only speculate as to which game he was playing but there were certainly very good ones around then!

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstra...3A25755C2A9609C94669FD7CF&scp=9&sq=tarot&st=p
 

Ross G Caldwell

Thanks Philebus.

I always suspected that Tarot must have been played at least among first generation Germans in the US, and perhaps among some Italians. Obviously it didn't survive long, but if a solid lead is found, there may be manuscript descriptions of the rules nearby.

The brief overview the "Magliabecchi" gave of the rules makes it hard to identify the specific game, at least for me. 23 trumps! Dummett and McLeod don't know any such game - or one with 80 cards. The writer also seems to confuse packs a little - French suited packs never have the Italian trump subjects.

It would really be fascinating to find if there was a Tarot Club in NYC in the 1880s.

Another lead the author gives, is that his informant says he wrote to "Notes and Queries" about a pack in his collection. Notes and Queries is online I think, so it may be traceable. I'd like to read the query and response(s).

Ross
 

frelkins

There's lots of tarot info in the NY Times. For example, who was noted collector Sir A. Wollestone Franks? What is the title of his 3 volume book on cards & tarocchi?

Who was Lady Charlotte Schreiber? Who bought her collection of famous historic cards, esp. her Mantegna? This is for you UK based members to puzzle out:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archiv...7123EE333A25757C0A9639C94679ED7CF&oref=slogin

This auction in 1896 must have been a huge deal in London to have made the NY Times!
 

philebus

Without purchasing the article - I might purchase a few after pay day (I'm overspent this month!) - I would guess that is isn't three books but a collection of actual cards in three folios. That would be likely as Woolaston Franks is described as an important collector with regards to the British Museum and as having a particular interest in Playing Cards.
 

frelkins

And this appears to be posthumous publication of the diary/memoirs of the Lady in question:

Lady Charlotte Schreiber's journals : confidences of a collector of ceramics and antiques throughout Britain, France, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Austria and Germany from the year 1869-1885 (1911)

http://www.archive.org/details/ladycharlottesch02schruoft

So these were in their day well-known society historians connected to the British Museum, both of whom apparently loved and owned a large number of historic tarocchi.

Ah! She was a famous person even before her marriage, nee Guest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Charlotte_Guest

"Lady Charlotte Guest died after a brief illness on January 15, 1895. In keeping with her continual wish to share a piece of history with a wider audience, she bequeathed her final collection, the antique playing cards, to the Victoria and Albert Museum."

http://www.lib.rochester.edu/Camelot/auth/guestbio.htm

It remains astonishing to me how crucial women have been to the history of tarot as we know it. :)