When I decided it was time to get an "old" deck, I posted
to Tarot-L, asking for advice on Marseilles Tarot decks.
Comments from Bob O'Neill were expecially helpful. I decided
to purchase the Conver 1760 deck (sold by US Games as
"Ancient Tarots of Marseilles"). Here are some
impressions.
First, for the benefit of anyone who might be new to the
collecting of older decks, there are two ways for a modern
publisher to handle an old deck: reproduction and
re-creation. A reproduction is essentially a photographic
copy of actual surviving cards from an original deck. As
such, it shows whatever wear, fading, and other
deteriorations the cards may have sustained. A re-creation
is an attempt to follow faithfully the design of the
original cards, but creating a modern master copy, using
modern technology and techniques. Modern coloring and
printing methods are also used, and often titles on the
cards are translated into English.
The
Conver deck is a reproduction. You can see places where the
ink has worn off, you can see the yellowing of the original
paper stock, the smearing of some of the lines from the
original printing process, and so on. Although I bought the
deck sight unseen, this is the sort of thing I was looking
for: I wanted to know what cards from the eighteenth century
actually looked like, not simply what designs they used.
(Some might protest that a brand new pack purchased in 1760
would look much sharper than this reproduction, but I
suspect that only a few years of dedicated use would render
it looking a lot like this reproduction; it appears to be an
inexpensive deck intended for a real workout at the card
table at the local tavern, not a piece of art to put on the
shelf and admire.)
The
designs on the deck are virtually identical to other
Marseilles tarots, such as the Grimaud ones, down to the
small details. (Something that was possible in the days
before copyright laws.) However, the "craftsmanship" in the
Conver deck is quite crude. The woodcuts are a bit rough
compared with others, and the colors are applied quite
poorly, without much reference to either logic or artistic
taste.
Owning
this deck, I understand the appeal of the Tarot of
Marseilles, as contrasted with the decks that developed out
of late nineteenth-century occultism. It is quite unburdened
with any self-conscious symbolism; no attempt to make the
cards conform to a particular individual's metaphysical or
psychological theory. Although we don't know much about any
divinatory use of the cards during the eighteenth century,
we do know they were used as playing cards, and the Tarot of
Marseilles certainly found a market among the common folk of
the time, looking for a diversion from the toil of life, and
perhaps a way to gamble away their wages! So we have a pack
of cards where The Emperor appears to be just the emperor,
not some fellow coated in glue and then forced to walk
through a new age bookstore, to emerge with astrological
signs affixed to his face and Hebrew letters hanging from
his garments.
Don't get me wrong; I love my 20th century decks, too. In
many ways they're much closer to my heart. But the Tarot of
Marseilles (particularly a faithful reproduction of one of
the "workhorse decks" of the period, like this one) opens a
window onto an earlier time, and an earlier Tarot tradition.
I find that rewarding. I wonder what I would have thought of
a tarot pack if I had lived 200 years ago.
I have the image of the man of the house owning a deck,
having friends over for a friendly penny-ante game, which
goes on past nightfall, accompanied by tankards of beer and
maybe a song or two. Then perhaps late some night (who
knows?), his aged mother-in-law pulls out the cards by
lamplight in the back room; her granddaughter is there,
worried whether she will have a happy marriage, with lots of
children and the means to look after them. Out come the
empress and some nice cups and coins. They both sleep a bit
easier that night.
I wonder what they would have thought of
our decks.
Ancient
Tarots of Marseilles
The
Conver deck is a reproduction. You can see places where the
ink has worn off, you can see the yellowing of the original
paper stock, the smearing of some of the lines from the
original printing process, and so on. Although I bought the
deck sight unseen, this is the sort of thing I was looking
for: I wanted to know what cards from the eighteenth century
actually looked like, not simply what designs they used.
(Some might protest that a brand new pack purchased in 1760
would look much sharper than this reproduction, but I
suspect that only a few years of dedicated use would render
it looking a lot like this reproduction; it appears to be an
inexpensive deck intended for a real workout at the card
table at the local tavern, not a piece of art to put on the
shelf and admire.)
The
designs on the deck are virtually identical to other
Marseilles tarots, such as the Grimaud ones, down to the
small details. (Something that was possible in the days
before copyright laws.) However, the "craftsmanship" in the
Conver deck is quite crude. The woodcuts are a bit rough
compared with others, and the colors are applied quite
poorly, without much reference to either logic or artistic
taste.
Owning
this deck, I understand the appeal of the Tarot of
Marseilles, as contrasted with the decks that developed out
of late nineteenth-century occultism. It is quite unburdened
with any self-conscious symbolism; no attempt to make the
cards conform to a particular individual's metaphysical or
psychological theory. Although we don't know much about any
divinatory use of the cards during the eighteenth century,
we do know they were used as playing cards, and the Tarot of
Marseilles certainly found a market among the common folk of
the time, looking for a diversion from the toil of life, and
perhaps a way to gamble away their wages! So we have a pack
of cards where The Emperor appears to be just the emperor,
not some fellow coated in glue and then forced to walk
through a new age bookstore, to emerge with astrological
signs affixed to his face and Hebrew letters hanging from
his garments.