[Madrigal]

I have the Ancient Italian Tarot by LoS. I like it a lot and am considering getting the Il Meneghello Soprafino. Are they very much different? If so how so? I mean aside from the obvious superior cardstock and quality.

TIA

[Abrac]

The Soprafino majors only have a roman numeral at the top and the title at the bottom. The ancient Italian has a grand total of 5 numbers for each one.

The Soprafino minors have roman numerals and the Ancient Italian uses modern numbers.

http://www.arnellart.com/osvaldo/taro-cl-soprafino.htm

[Le Fanu]

The Soprafino feels like proper cards - the Ancient Italian feels like a modern reproduction of an ancient deck. You could, under candlelight or - as I did once, reading with it under a rose bower at dusk - convince yourself that the Soprafino is a genuine antique~y deck. You couldn't do that with the Ancient Italian.

I remember the first thing I noticed when I received the Soprafino was the sharpness of the engraving quality and how fuzzy it made the Ancient Italian and the LoS Classical feel, in terms of the actual imagery.

[Madrigal]

Originally Posted by Abrac

The Soprafino majors only have a roman numeral at the top and the title at the bottom. The ancient Italian has a grand total of 5 numbers for each one.

The Soprafino minors have roman numerals and the Ancient Italian uses modern numbers.

http://www.arnellart.com/osvaldo/taro-cl-soprafino.htm

I didn't notice that until you mentioned it here. It's now quite glaring.

Originally Posted by Le Fanu

The Soprafino feels like proper cards - the Ancient Italian feels like a modern reproduction of an ancient deck. You could, under candlelight or - as I did once, reading with it under a rose bower at dusk - convince yourself that the Soprafino is a genuine antique~y deck. You couldn't do that with the Ancient Italian.

I remember the first thing I noticed when I received the Soprafino was the sharpness of the engraving quality and how fuzzy it made the Ancient Italian and the LoS Classical feel, in terms of the actual imagery.

I'm a sucker for rose bowers at dusk with antique Tarot cards. Mevlana says it best...

In the daytime, while the nightingale takes its rest,
renews its generous throat,
the rose opens to embrace the world with beauty;

In the nighttime, while the rose folds and rests in sleep,
waiting to drink that purest dew of dawn,
the nightingale tells the world of beauty;


It didn't take much convincing, the Soprafino is on its way. Thanks for the nudge, friends.

[Nemia]

One day, I'll probably be able to afford the "proper" one, too... ;-) but until then, I helped my LoS Ancient Italian by trimming it. I left it with un-rounded corners. The deck feels totally different without those ugly green borders. The cardbacks are a bit asymmetrical but I don't mind. I really don't know who decided to kill this deck with green borders!

I add this to the discussion, just in case others are like me torn between their desire for the Soprafino and their budget...

ETA: this post is idiotic and thanks for Madrigal's bringing it to my attention! got my decks mixed up :-(

[Madrigal]

Originally Posted by Nemia

One day, I'll probably be able to afford the "proper" one, too... ;-) but until then, I helped my LoS Ancient Italian by trimming it. I left it with un-rounded corners. The deck feels totally different without those ugly green borders. The cardbacks are a bit asymmetrical but I don't mind. I really don't know who decided to kill this deck with green borders!

I add this to the discussion, just in case others are like me torn between their desire for the Soprafino and their budget...

Nemia, are you perhaps thinking of the Tarot of the Master? I agree, the borders... I trimmed mine, left the edges square and then edged it in antique linen. I love how it looks now. My Ancient Italian has no borders other than a thin, pale line setting the image apart from the background. Perhaps you have a different version?

[Nemia]

Yes, of course, sorry, my brain was drying up when I wrote that!!!

My apologies.

That means I HAVE to buy the Soprafino sooner or later :-)

[Abrac]

The Ancient Italian is a reproduction of the Serravalle-Sesia Tarot (1880). Kaplan has pictures of it on pg. 158 of his Encyclopedia, Vol. 1. The Soprafino is a reproduction of an earlier deck (1835) by Dellarocca. They're similar but actually two different decks.

[mrpants]

What Abrac said, and though there are very many similarities, I recall the Trumps having some pretty big differences. The Emperor, for instance, in the Soprafino is a Ceasar-type figure, while the Dela Roca (Ancient Italian) figure appears rather Muscovite with a beard, tall boots, and early Russian-style cap-crown.

[ihcoyc]

The Ancient Italian is my usual reading deck. One reason is that it is a modern reproduction that could be replaced easily and at slight expense, because it is still in print. Then again, my other usual deck is my 1970s vintage 1JJ in French, which might be hard to replace at a reasonable price.

I believe that the Della Rocca deck is also available as the "Classic Tarot" from Lo Scarabeo. Not a fan of that particular reproduction because it adds keywords.