Franco Pratesi has published 3 new articles:
http://trionfi.com/ev15
1729-1762: EXPORTS OF FLORENTINE MINCHIATE, 07.05.2013
with an addition:
http://trionfi.com/0/ev/15/st/
Minchiate Export Lists 1729-1762
http://trionfi.com/ev16
(1606 + 1693) 17th CENTURY: GERMINI, TAROCCHI, MINCHIATE, 14.05.2013
http://trionfi.com/ev17
1835-1855: AREZZO, CARD PLAYING AT ACCADEMIA DEI COSTANTI, 18.05.2013
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These 3 are embedded in a broader field of Franco Pratesi : "Minchiate/Germini" articles, which I present here as a list, sorted according the time to which they refer to:
EARLY:
http://trionfi.com/es03
ROSENWALD’S FOURTH SHEET, 24.11.2011
(a specific consideration, according which the Rosenwald Tarocchi might have been an early 15th century Minchiate deck)
EARLY:
1517 GERMINI AMONG OTHER GAMES, 28.03.2012
(two documents were found, according which the name "Germini" was used in Florence in 1517 and 1519)
NEW: http://trionfi.com/ev16
(1606 + 1693) 17th CENTURY: GERMINI, TAROCCHI, MINCHIATE, 14.05.2013
( 2 documents, from which the first makes clear, that Tarocchi still played a role in Toscana; from 1636 on it seems clear, that there was no Tarocchi production in Toscana; imports of Tarocchi appeared again 1752)
http://trionfi.com/ev11
DOMANDA E RIPOSTA, 07.03.2013
(Minchiate poem mid 17th century)
NEW: http://trionfi.com/ev15
1729-1762: EXPORTS OF FLORENTINE MINCHIATE, 07.05.2013
with an addition:
http://trionfi.com/0/ev/15/st/
Minchiate Export Lists 1729-1762
(4% of the Minchiate export went to countries outside of Italy)
http://trionfi.com/ev09
1775-87 : CARD PRODUCTION IN TUSCAN GRAND DUCHY, 26.01.2013
(Minchiate has a market participation of nearly 10%)
http://trionfi.com/es18
1791 PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PLAYING CARDS IN TUSCANY, 24.03.2012
(again: Minchiate has a market participation of nearly 10%)
http://trionfi.com/ev08
1801-07 – CARD PRODUCTION IN THE ETRURIA KINGDOM, 12.01.2013
http://trionfi.com/ev12
1810-1811 – PLAYING CARDS IN LUCCA, 22.03.2013
(doesn't include Minchiate, but just confirms, that at this time Lucca hadn't Minchiate)
EARLY:
http://trionfi.com/es02
FLORENTINE CARD PRODUCTION IN ABOUT 1840 ?, 18.11.2011
(Minchiate had then a market participation of 1%)
NEW: http://trionfi.com/ev17
1835-1855: AREZZO, CARD PLAYING AT ACCADEMIA DEI COSTANTI, 18.05.2013
(it refers to Arezzo and so to the series of Arezzo articles, but the deciding observation is, that Minchiate had fallen at the end of the period to a very small participation - in contrast to 18th century Minchiate)
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Franco Pratesi's work has the declared limitation to focus on Florence and Tuscany ... for the understandable reasons, that Toscana a. has the best archived documents and b. he lives in Toscana, and these documents are easier reachable to him than documents elsewhere and c. he lives in Florence and has a certain local patriotism ... :-).
On the other hand we in our self-declared interest in the history of Tarot and related games have an interest in some objective perspectives how things might have happened.
Franco early (10 years ago and likely already earlier) explained - in contrast to many other reigning opinions of the time - that Florence should have had - according its overall cultural dominance - a strong role in the development of the Trionfi cards. Milan had the early cards, Ferrara the early documents and Bologna the special favor of some then. Dummett himself had explained, that it must have come from either Milan, Ferrara or Bologna.
Franco needed a half year of archive work to make his point clear (November 2011 till April 2012, when the silk dealer articles appeared).
Franco predicted another astonishing point once, and that was, that Minchiate likely had a stronger distribution than Tarocchi. Let's say, "till 1750" was likely, what he meant.
