Minchiate

[AJ]

Don't tell me, I trust LS card stock above all others.
Tell the buying public on Amazon.
As has been said many times, AT members are but a tiny microcosm of the tarot community.

 

[vee]

I'm really glad this thread was bumped, as I've been wanting to buy this deck but those two Amazon reviews made me wary. I trust you guys over some random internet people though! (Even though you _are_ random internet people, you're my random internet people. I have the Brian Williams Minchiate reimagining, so I think I'll just pair that book with this deck since I am more interested in it from a historical perspective.

 

[firecatpickles]

Let them disparage the deck! It'll just mean that fewer people will buy it and then it will be more valuable for us who did buy it to begin with!

There isn't anything wrong with this deck other than it's a tad smaller than the original photocopy, presumably to reduce the digitization problem they had.

 

[Debra]

They made some changes in the cards, specifically, they added numbers to the three unnumbered majors. This is explained in the book for anyone concerned about historical authenticity. One might reasonably agree or disagree with this judgment. I think it was a good call as it makes reading easier.

The cards are nicely printed and I love the colors. The card stock is slightly less fantastic than usual for LS. Still it is fine. My cards stuck together (they clumped). Fanning powder took care of the problem. I like the size. The images are clear.

The book is nicely produced. The English translation is not terrific--it is obvious that the translation company did not have a native English speaker check for readability.

All in all I think it's great and am pleased to have it.

 

[vee]

Just got it in the mail! It is really beautiful and I'm glad I got it. Although I primarily wanted it for historical study, I decided to just do a quick intuitive reading and it was awesome. Definitely going to be looking into using this one more for readings!

 

[AJ]

I just spent two weeks working with this deck, with some tips and tricks from our Firecat, thank you

Taking my own advice above, I've just came from Amazon after writing a review which I hope balances those first two...
and I see Gregory has also add one. Good job!

This was my review, don't know how long it takes to show up there.
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I've used tarot decks and oracles for years, a Minchiate is something entirely new to me and I've spent the last two weeks getting acquainted with it. A 97 card deck, this is a really lovely 2011 Lo Scarabeo reprint of the Etruria Minchiate deck from 18th century Florence Italy. The Minchiate deck consists of 41 Majors; the Fool through World normally found in tarot decks, plus 12 zodiac signs, 4 virtues, and 4 elements, and all the usual tarocchi/tarot suspects in the minors and courts. Designed for gaming, there is no particular proscribed way of using them for divination or introspection.

Lo Scarabeo card stock sets the standard in the industry, easy to shuffle, flexible, smooth as butter, with a strong inner core that allows for riffle shuffling without damage to the deck. The box for the book and deck is fairly new to their product line, super sturdy with a magnetic catch.

In use on my tarot blog Quirkeries, I found the Minchiate hit all my hot buttons...naturally, as it's time period of original design was the 16th century when church was the law and independent thought was discouraged. Setting that aside, the art is softly colored, nicely detailed, and as a newbie to the Minchiate, I appreciated Lo Scarabeo's addition of numbers to the originally unnumbered cards.

The companion book is digest style, with sections in five different languages. The english version is 25 pages long and covers quite a bit considering very little is historically know about the early decks.

A beautifully presented deck, fun to use in divination, who knows, it might encourage the original tarocchi gaming deck to make a come back.

 

[gregory]

Outed

*giggles*

Great review, AJ I just voted for it !

 

[Le Fanu]

LoS numbered the cards? Those Roman numerals are not historical?

Nice, balanced review AJ

 

[Debra]

Not quite (the numbers)

They made some changes in the cards, specifically, they added numbers to the three unnumbered majors.

They explain this in the book.

Three of the majors did not have numbers.

LS added them to these three cards, apparently using the numerals from the majors that do have numbers.

 

[Le Fanu]

They explain this in the book.

Three of the majors did not have numbers.

LS added them to these three cards, apparently using the numerals from the majors that do have numbers.

Gosh I never knew that. Presumably the first LoS edition of the Minchiate is the same.