Card dimensions
Posted: 16 Jul 2014, 10:36
Hello, forum!
I'm curious to learn about what decision-making went into the size of Tarot cards -- say, for example, into those of the Tarot de Marseilles.
From what little I can gather, cards were made according to a 2:1 (height to width) ratio, very roughly speaking. (I'm surprised given the nature of the cards that they weren't printed on golden rectangles.)
One would expect that early Tarot cards would correspond in round numbers to some exact system of measurement. I haven't been able to find any consistent information on the measurement system used, for example, in the south of France -- or in northern Italy, for that matter.
Also: I would be very surprised if the thinking that went into the design of early Tarot cards wasn't in some way akin to that of early book design:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canons_of_ ... nstruction
Cheers!
I'm curious to learn about what decision-making went into the size of Tarot cards -- say, for example, into those of the Tarot de Marseilles.
From what little I can gather, cards were made according to a 2:1 (height to width) ratio, very roughly speaking. (I'm surprised given the nature of the cards that they weren't printed on golden rectangles.)
One would expect that early Tarot cards would correspond in round numbers to some exact system of measurement. I haven't been able to find any consistent information on the measurement system used, for example, in the south of France -- or in northern Italy, for that matter.
Also: I would be very surprised if the thinking that went into the design of early Tarot cards wasn't in some way akin to that of early book design:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canons_of_ ... nstruction
Cheers!