The Tarot de Paris (The Parisian Tarot)
Posted: 05 Apr 2009, 22:54
An exploration of this deck is long overdue.
It is generally accepted that this one of a kind deck was originally published in the early 1600s. If this is correct, it would mean that it is older than any existing Tarot de Marseille (Tarot de Marseille), (the Jean Noblet Tarot is dated to around 1650, and the Jean Dodal to the early 1700s). Of course, the Cary Sheet indicates that, (at least elements of), the Tarot de Marseille style has been around since around 1500. The Tarot de Paris is usually considered the oldest existing deck that still contains all 78 original cards.
The Tarot de Paris (TdP) follows the numbering of the Tarot de Marseille, and like the Tarot de Marseille has titles and numbers printed on the cards. Some of the cards are clearly related to the Tarot de Marseille, but many have unique designs or are related to other decks. In some ways, the deck reminds me of the Jacques Vieville, it has a crude and wild streak, but sometimes the artwork is incredibly rich and beautiful. Some of the detail in the facsimile version published by Grimaud in 1985 is difficult to see clearly as the colours used in the original have darkened obscuring some of the lines and making some of the artwork difficult to decipher.
An excellent summary of the deck exists on Andy's Playing Cards. I'd like to take it a step further and discuss some of the details. This is one of the most important of our early decks, and one of the least known and discussed. Unfortunately, the deck is very difficult to find now, although copies can still be found occasionally on ebay.
I hope you'll join me in exploring this treasure. I've placed a gallery of the trumps on my tarot history weblog, and will start posting the images in this thread for us to discuss.
It is generally accepted that this one of a kind deck was originally published in the early 1600s. If this is correct, it would mean that it is older than any existing Tarot de Marseille (Tarot de Marseille), (the Jean Noblet Tarot is dated to around 1650, and the Jean Dodal to the early 1700s). Of course, the Cary Sheet indicates that, (at least elements of), the Tarot de Marseille style has been around since around 1500. The Tarot de Paris is usually considered the oldest existing deck that still contains all 78 original cards.
The Tarot de Paris (TdP) follows the numbering of the Tarot de Marseille, and like the Tarot de Marseille has titles and numbers printed on the cards. Some of the cards are clearly related to the Tarot de Marseille, but many have unique designs or are related to other decks. In some ways, the deck reminds me of the Jacques Vieville, it has a crude and wild streak, but sometimes the artwork is incredibly rich and beautiful. Some of the detail in the facsimile version published by Grimaud in 1985 is difficult to see clearly as the colours used in the original have darkened obscuring some of the lines and making some of the artwork difficult to decipher.
An excellent summary of the deck exists on Andy's Playing Cards. I'd like to take it a step further and discuss some of the details. This is one of the most important of our early decks, and one of the least known and discussed. Unfortunately, the deck is very difficult to find now, although copies can still be found occasionally on ebay.
I hope you'll join me in exploring this treasure. I've placed a gallery of the trumps on my tarot history weblog, and will start posting the images in this thread for us to discuss.