(This thread started May 2013. However to alert people to new essays as they are posted, I have updated the title of the thread and will continue to do so.)

Since his essay on the "El Bagatella", Andrea has posted three new essays, which I am happy to say are also available in English on the same site.

One is "Follia e 'Melancholia'" (Folly and 'Melancholia'), a companion piece to the "Bagatella" essay. It includes several rather clever 16th century poems. It is at

http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 88&lng=ITA (in Italian)
and
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 88&lng=ENG (in English)

Another is "De Rege Scaccorum, de Imperatore Tarocorum"--roughly, "like the King in Chess, the Emperor in Tarot"-- an old expression in documents. Otherwise, the essay cites examples of several attitudes toward chess and cards in the 16th century:

http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 92&lng=ITA
and
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 92&lng=ENG

The third is "Giocare a Tarocchi in Delizia" [Playing Tarot in Delight], about Alfonso I d'Este's mistress, possibly at one point privately his wife, after the death of Lucrezia Borgia. In her accounts ledger there is the record of a tarot purchase:

http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 94&lng=ITA
and
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 94&lng=ENG

In all these essays, translating the 16th century texts (those not already available in translation) presented some challenges, with many emails back and forth about particular problems. I would appreciate any suggestions or questions about our choices, either here or in a private message.

Huck gave a list of 24 newly translated essays by Andrea Vitali at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=345&start=190#p13982. Of these I especially recommend the one with lengthy citations from Giordano Bruno's only play, for its humor, and the two on the Inquisition, for the so-called "hammer of love". Also, the title of the essay originally called "To God the Tarocchino is not displeasing" has been changed (so it will fit on one line) to "God doesn't mind Tarocchino".

Huck posted on June 23. Since then 8 more of Andrea's essays have appeared in English on LeTarot, listed below in order of posting:

Laudibles et Vituperables:
Praiseworthy and blameworthy games in the sermons of Roberto da Lecce
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 91&lng=ENG
(About the condemnation of Triumphs in a 1448 sermon, something already been pointed out by Depaulis, but Andrea gives background and more details from the sermon.)

A Gang of Traitors:
On the Penalty of the infamous, or the Hanged Man
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 52&lng=ENG
(Gives a vast number of accounts of different persons given the penalty depicted in the Hanged Man card, mostly Italians but one from Paris and another from Constantinople.)

Matti de Trionfi:
Carnival and Folly
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 55&lng=ENG
(On the origin of Carnival, and selections from Garzoni, 1585, and Brant, 1494.)

The Renunciation of "Tarrocchi":
In the Resolutions for the Spiritual Exercises of B. L. Giacobini (1676)
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 29&lng=ENG
(A cleric renounces his favorite game and does devotional exercises instead; somehow the resolutions he adopts for the exercises are reminiscent of the cards.)

The Game of Final Bagatt:
In praise of the Delightful Game vulgarly called Bagattultimo
//www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=259&lng=ENG
(A lengthy 18th century poem discussing the Bagatto's lineage and habits, and his frustration in the hands of an incompetent player. It also takes a shot at the Pope, for coupling with the Popess. In my opinion the poem is a response to a then-new variation in which the Bagatto earned extra points if it won the last trick.)

Ganellini seu Gallerini:
The game of Minchiate in Genoa, Rome and Palermo (XVII - XVIII)
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 10&lng=ENG

The Sermons of Giusti
Giovan Battista Giusti and the Prince of the Tarot
http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 06&lng=ENG
(A beautiful poem of social satire with a reference to tarot and its alleged inventor, Prince Fibbia in Bologna.)

Theroco Wind
The wind that leads to madness (XVIth century)
(An especially important essay, posted in Italian less than a week ago; I described at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=961.)

There will be more.

For all these essays, I am listed as translator, but I want to emphasize that they are a collaborative effort between Andrea and myself, especially as regards the understanding of documents written before the 20th century.

In general, our process is as follows. I do a rough draft. Andrea gives detailed responses, sometimes in English but mostly in modern Italian. Usually these involve interpretations of archaic words and difficult sentence structure. To the extent that I can accept and understand these responses, I translate them into corrections to the draft. Otherwise, I present the problems that still exist for me, sometimes citing authorities and making new suggestions. Andrea then replies, with his citations. This can go on between us for several emails. Eventually we have a translation we both can live with (no exceptions so far).

For me, Andrea is the best kind of collaborator: he's willing to explain things over and over in different terms, and also, regarding the ancient Italian, willing to learn from a beginner (because his first impression is not always the one we stay with).

mikeh wrote:

The Game of Final Bagatt:
In praise of the Delightful Game vulgarly called Bagattultimo
//www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=259&lng=ENG
(A lengthy 18th century poem discussing the Bagatto's lineage and habits, and his frustration in the hands of an incompetent player. It also takes a shot at the Pope, for coupling with the Popess. In my opinion the poem is a response to a then-new variation in which the Bagatto earned extra points if it won the last trick.)

Thanks for the links Mike. Re: the final bagatt - what is the confusion between 21 and 22 re:the lines:

The tarot’s ringleader [the Bagatto]:
Or perhaps because feeling exalted
But feeble of memory,
He made a confusion
Between [“Fra il,” also “Among the”] twenty-one and twenty-two.

??

(It certainly became a confusion re: the place of the fool post Gebelin hebrew letter attribution days!)

Good question, Steve. We discussed it, but came to no conclusion. The poet is imagining some sort of counting error. Whether the Fool card is being mistaken as high in trick-taking ability (and so 22) when it was in fact unnumbered (and so there were 21 trick-taking triumphs) I can't say. When De Gebelin assigned the Hebrew letter Tau to the Fool, he was making it zero (and so unable to take a trick) since the World was Aleph (see http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/De_Gebelin). But it certainly didn't stay that way!

Andrea has a new essay, "Winckelmann", which is online in both Italian and English (http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 91&lng=ITA, http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 91&lng=ENG. The great German scholar mentions in letters a "Società del Tarocchino" in which he was a part, at the home of a Bolognese physician, in Dresden of 1754.

Also, there is now an English version of "Tarot in Literature IV" (http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 91&lng=ENG). It contains some very nice Italian verses--not easy to translate--as well as Charles de Brosses' observations on minchiate in Rome of the 1730s, given in both French and my English translation of the French (corrections are welcome!). This last selection contains a few paragraphs in the French (and hence English) that are not in the Italian version of the essay, in which De Brosses compares the game to chess and has and makes a joke abut minchie (look it up on Google if you don't know the meaning), among other things.

Since the last time I posted, with "Winkelmann", Andrea has written, in Italian, five new essays, one at the end of 2013 and four so far in 2014; all five have now, in 2014, been translated into English. They are:

(1) "From ‘Barocchi’ to ‘Tarocchi’: The evolution of the term ‘Barocco’ into ‘Tarocco’", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 29&lng=ENG (translation of "Da 'Barocchi' a 'Tarocchi': L’evoluzione del termine ‘Barocco’ in ‘Tarocco’", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 29&lng=ITA. Andrea documents a game spelled "barocchi", a word appearing as "tarocchi" in other editions of the same Vocabulario. Is it a misprint or an earlier name of the game"?

(2) "The illicit skill of cheaters: The world of cheaters in real-life stories and tricks of the trade", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 30&lng=ENG (translation of "L'abile illecito dei bari: Il mondo dei bari fra storie di vita vissuta e trucchi del mestiere" (http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 30&lng=ITA). This one documents the madness called "tarocchi" and the ways swindlers took advantage of players.

(3) "Officium Lusorum: Mass of the Gamblers", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 35&lng=ENG (translation of "Officium Lusorum: La Messa dei Giocatori d'Azzardo", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 35&lng=ITA). This one describes the medieval "mass of fools" and gives us the words--in Latin, Italian, and now English--of the "mass of the gamblers" contained in manuscripts of the Carmina Burana. Instead of Christ, it has Decius, Lord of the Dice.

(4) "Il Torracchione Desolato: A card-reading sorceress in a poem of the XVIIth century", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 49&lng=ENG (translation of "Il Torracchione Desolato: Una maga cartomante in un poema del sec. XVII", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 49&lng=ITA). A desolate ruined tower is the inspiration for a poem with an evil sorceress who brings bad news "in a single turn of the cards". Andrea graciously includes an Addendum by me at the end of the English version.

(5) "An enigma in 'Orlando Furioso': From the poem an hypothesis on the existence of cartomancy in the XVth century", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 51&lng=ENG (translation of "Un enigma nell'Orlando Furioso: Da un verso del poema un’ ipotesi sull’esistenza della cartomanzia nel sec. XV", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page. ... 51&lng=ITA). In the poem by Ariosto, published in Ferrara 1516, another sorceress has a magic ring that can "interpreter le carte", a metaphor for the dispelling, in a literal sense, of pleasant illusions. Does this mean "interpreting the cards"? What is the reality on which the metaphor is based? Andrea again includes an Addendum by me at the end.

Thanks, Mike!

Andrea now has one new essay, so far in Italian only, "Venga il cancar al goffo, et al Tarocco
Nuovi documenti fra storia e letteratura dal XVI al XIX secolo" (http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=453, This essay is about a c. 1523 sonnet that speaks of not only of Tarocco, but of Primero-- and to Goffo, a variant of Primero, and also, Andrea says, shows a usage of "tarocco" as "fool". I have not yet read it.

Also, he has added much material to the essay in Italian "I Tarocchi in Letteratura III: Le Minchiate e i Germini" ((http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=254#), material which we have also added to the English translation (which appears as "Minchiate in Literature", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=338#). In the Italian version, Andrea has added translations into modern Italian of many of the examples, as well as other interpretive clues as to their meaning. For the English version, we (Andrea and I) have translated into English these translations and clues, and also other clues pertaining just to the English equivalents. The result is much more comprehensible and useful than before. In particular, the 1466 Pulci letter to Lorenzo de' Medici, plus three poems written to him, are of considerable interest for understanding the (presumably) pre-minchiate uses of words in the "minchiate" family. The three poems are quite clever and funny in themselves.

mikeh wrote: ...
Also, he has added much material to the essay in Italian "I Tarocchi in Letteratura III: Le Minchiate e i Germini" ((http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=254#), material which we have also added to the English translation (which appears as "Minchiate in Literature", http://www.associazioneletarot.it/page.aspx?id=338#). In the Italian version, Andrea has added translations into modern Italian of many of the examples, as well as other interpretive clues as to their meaning. For the English version, we (Andrea and I) have translated into English these translations and clues, and also other clues pertaining just to the English equivalents. The result is much more comprehensible and useful than before. In particular, the 1466 Pulci letter to Lorenzo de' Medici, plus three poems written to him, are of considerable interest for understanding the (presumably) pre-minchiate uses of words in the "minchiate" family. The three poems are quite clever and funny in themselves.

"Words in the Minchiate family" we had earlier here ...
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=414&p=5408

For the moment I don't realize to which degree both collections overlap (at least partly they do).

Thanks for the link, Huck, as there's some interesting discussion there.

Andrea has focused on just the three poems that use "minch-" words. His deciphering of them into modern Italian (and now, with the help of an unnamed philologist and my small contribution, also making it clear in English) is a real achievement, I believe. He does not think that any of these "minch-" words refer to a game. He doesn't deal with the Burchiello. I think that would be worth translating. Do you have more complete information on this discovery, e.g. where it was found and how the estimated dating was determined, than what you have at http://trionfi.com/0/e/00a/?

The story is, that Ray Luberti once (2003) spoke about this poem with "minchiatar" and "triomphi" from Burchiello, written c. 1440.
It was recorded in our collection:
http://trionfi.com/0/e/00a/

Andrea Vitali didn't take the poem as a serious indication of anything.
http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=199

I personally see the possibility, that "Triomphi" and "Minchiatar" might have been a word pair, attracting each other like triumphator and beggar on a triumphal chariot.
Generally the possibility exists, that "minchiatar" might have been a new word in c. 1440, similar as "Tarochi" later was a new word.

Fact is, that in 1466 we have the first appearance of "Minchiate" and it is Luigi Pulci, who is the first user of this word. And Pulci used other "Minch-"words.

If any other user of "Minchiate" could be found before Pulci, it would be fine. But I haven't heard about anybody else.

Well, Pulci might have created "Minchiate" as a name for a new game or a new card deck form. Then he would have had a reason to generate fun poetry with similar words in other contexts, just to spread his Minchiate idea.

He might have done so in inspiration of the Burchiello poem, possibly a person and poet, which he admired.