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Besançon Decks
As far as I know, there are only a few Besançon-style decks on the market. I’ll start my survey with the most affordable and accessible deck, a re-creation by Evalyne Hall. While translating the...
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The Cartomancer December 2016 Issue
This magazine just keeps getting better. The latest issue has several articles that especially intrigued me. In the Tarot Art section, Monica Bodirsky’s Lucky Lenormand deck caught my eye. Its...
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Tarocchi Visconti Sforza by Il Meneghello
I already have three full-sized facsimiles of the Visconti-Sforza deck. So when I came across yet another version, published by Il Meneghello in 1996, I wrestled with temptation for a couple of weeks...
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The Two Madenié Decks
If you bought the first edition of the Pierre Madenié deck produced by Yves Reynaud in 2013, do you need to get the second edition as well? Yes, you probably do. Even though it’s my number one reading...
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Comparing Visconti Sforza Replacement Cards: The Devil’s in the Details
If you can only own one or two Visconti Sforza decks, before purchasing you need to familiarize yourself with the replacement cards – Tower, Devil and Knight of Coins. (The Three of Swords is also...
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1760 Nicolas Conver Tarot de Marseille Restored by Yves Reynaud
Yves Reynaud, who has given new life to historically important TdMs like the Burdel, Payen and Madenié, just issued his restoration of the 1760 Conver deck in a limited edition of 1500. A decade ago,...
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The Rosenwald Deck
Sullivan Hismans, at Tarot Sheet Revival, has worked tarot magic again by creating an actual deck from sheets of tarot cards printed @1500 and housed in the Rosenwald collection of the National Gallery...
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Cross Spread with the Rosenwald Deck
I just did my first reading with my new Rosenwald deck. This deck reads like a dream. The fluid lines bring the images to life, and the pips are enough like the TdM so little adjustment is required....
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The Tarocchino Bolognese of Giuseppe Mitelli Published by Giordano Berti
The Tarocchino Bolognese engraved by Giuseppe Mitelli is a unique treasure. Just as the Visconti-Sforza deck was a luxury item commissioned by an aristocrat from a prominent artist in Cremona, this...
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J-P Payen and the Tarot de Marseille Type I
Yves Reynaud has produced facsimiles of historically important decks like the Madenié, Burdel and Conver. Now he’s done it again with a recreation of the 1713 Jean-Pierre Payen Tarot, one of the few...
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Il Meneghello’s Little White Sheet
Has anyone read the folded sheet of paper that comes with every Il Meneghello deck? Recently I became curious enough to dust off my Italian dictionary and read it carefully. Osvaldo Menegazzi, the...
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Tarocchi Lando produced by Giordano Berti
Another historically important Piedmontese deck produced by Giordano Berti just arrived in my mailbox. Like Berti’s other productions, this deck is housed in a sturdy handmade box lined with felt and...
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Marshmallow Marseille
This deck is an 18th-century Tarot de Marseille redrawn with a contemporary folk art flavor. The lacy vegetation on the pips and the bright pastel colors like aqua, violet and peach give the deck a...
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The Vandenborre Deck Restored by Pablo Robledo
I am very excited about this fresh new version of the 1762 Vandenborre deck published this month by the Argentinian tarot maker Pablo Robledo. This Brussels-Rouen pattern deck is first cousin to the...
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Three Vandenborre Decks
My 1983 Vandenborre deck by Carta Mundi has been sitting unused on a shelf for a few decades. After falling in love with Pablo Robledo’s recent production of the deck, and discovering a third version...
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I Tarocchi di Valentina Visconti per il Palio d’Asti
Acquiring this hard-to-find deck inspired me to get acquainted with Valentina Visconti and learn about the chapter of her life depicted in these cards. In 1389, Valentina set out in a magnificent...
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Golden Decks of the Fifteenth Century: The Visconti di Modrone and...
Nearly two decades ago, Il Meneghello of Milan gave us the best facsimile available of the 1450 Visconti-Sforza deck. Now they’ve outdone themselves by producing facsimiles of the two earliest...
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The Budapest Tarot Recreated by Sullivan Hismans
In the 1440s, you could go to the store and buy a pack of cards for playing the popular new game of Trionfi. What did those cards look like? Did they resemble our familiar tarot cards? We can’t be sure...
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Tarot Hes 1750
When we think of historic tarot decks, the French Tarot de Marseille and early Italian decks quickly come to mind. But I’m ashamed to say that in my nearly twenty years of deck collecting it never...
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Tarot des Aux Arcs
The deck’s name had me puzzled for a while. It looks French but makes no sense in that language. Then I checked out the creator’s website — Aux Arcs in French is pronounced Ozark, the mountains where...
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