Restoring the Tarot de Paris (17th century) ?

Thinbuddha, I am also interested in your restoration of this deck. I agree with Kwaw though and would like to see it AS IS, ie warts an' all.

I have the whole deck in pdf if you need it. (I think!)

Abrac said:

The one on the left is the 1985 reproduction and on the right is the other one.

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Never seen that cleaned up version. Mine is published by André Dimanche and the extra card says it is a limited edition.

I'd always thought it had been published by Grimaud in 1984.

But, whatever, I am so up for a cleaned-up copy of this deck by tb.

Add me to the list!

Thinbuddha,I am not so much the fan of warts and all. Part of the value of the TdP is not so much the muddy confusion we have left, but the clear idea the original artists had, but which no-longer survives. At one time there must have been scores of decks whose lines were crisp and whose stenciling was well executed. That is the image, that actually illustrates the story at hand. That is the image that we really need.

I would be interested in a copy of the deck as it now exists, muddy colouration and other warts and all. But I would be much more interested in a clean production that really told the story as it was actually meant to be told.

Either way I'll be looking forward to the success of your project.


CED

I think what actually obscures the Tarot de Paris images are the colour blocks. They seem to obliterate so much of the detail, which is hard to see at the best of times.

I think that if it were just the lines of the woodcut, we would be able to tell exactly what some of these details were. I don't quite know what people mean by "warts and all" here, but I would guess that - in the event of a restoration - the line would be retained and the colouring "repositioned", made less "heavy handed"

just guessing...

Abrac said:

At Trionfi, six of the scans are from a cleaned up version that doesn't have the BN logo at the bottom. Anyone happen to know where they come from? Here's a picture for comparison. The one on the left is the 1985 reproduction and on the right is the other one.

Paris Tarot Comparison

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They are illutstrations from Les Cartes a Jouer du XIV au XX Siecle by Henry Rene D'Allemagne (1906) or its Dover reprint (which I have). I'm wondering if they did that re-drawing on all 78 cards. They would make a fabulous working deck.

conversus said:

I would be interested in a copy of the deck as it now exists, muddy colouration and other warts and all. But I would be much more interested in a clean production that really told the story as it was actually meant to be told.

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If I started with a very high resolution scan of an original card, it's possible that I might be able to see clearly some things that are not obvious in the reproductions- and I would then be able to clean it up and bring such details out. But that is speculation. Much more likely, I think that I will find that ambiguity is there in the source material, and that is part of the mystery and beauty of the deck. To try to invent details where none remain is not something that I personally strive to do.

I prefer my restoration work to still appear as if it is an old deck. It's artistic preference, but I find it much more satisfying than the sort of recreation that Flornoy does, where all the lines become clean and even, and none of the coloration spills out from it's intended target. This is a personal preference, and I mean to take nothing away from the work that Flornoy does. As a matter of fact, I respect his work greatly, and because of this I wouldn't dream of doing the Vieville or Dodal anytime soon.

Le Fanu: But, whatever, I am so up for a cleaned-up copy of this deck by tb.

TBuddha: I prefer my restoration work to still appear as if it is an old deck.

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Oh dear. I am also in favour of a cleaned up version. This is how the people at that time would have seen it and used it. I realise that the colours may have been rather garish - but perhaps a repro. could have them toned down.... a gentler palette suggesting age?

Bee

Ahh...thanks roppo I didn't even think of that. I thought maybe there was another deck out there somewhere.

Looking carefully at the comparison of Le Bateleur (link in Roppos' post), the orginal 'bateleur' appears to be concealing something in his hand, a triangular-shaped thing (slight-of-hand?). You can see that his fingers are curled back. Yet the repro. is quite different.

Hmm...... the commercially cleaned-up version has lost the import of the card. I believe a thinbuddha version would never do that!

Bee

Anyone who has tb's Payen will know that it is cleaned up but not pristine and sterile and glaring. It still feels like an old deck. I like that.