Historically representative card decks - patterns

Which ones to have???

So, here's a question - if one wished to have representative decks of the various different early types, which ones would you go for?
I've been trying to find a document that might show the decks in relation to one another, which ones derive from which and so on, but haven't found one yet. All type lists tend to hamper rather than help; being dislexic I find them hard to navigate, but will have a bash if that's the best way.

I've no real desire to have very type of Marseille for example, but to have a cross section would be better ( for me).

Anyone got the the time, or the link, to help me out here? Many thanks if you have.

So far, I have aquired, without logic or plan:
Cary Yale Visconti (those big cards)
Visconti Tarots(LoS the gold faced ones)
1JJ Swiss
Marseilles (Grimaund)
Bologna (LoS)

Thanks
Pathwalker

PathWalker said:

I've been trying to find a document that might show the decks in relation to one another, which ones derive from which and so on, but haven't found one yet.

Click to expand...

Try
http://trionfi.com/i/

This allows me to see various cards, yes?
But how do I work out the ages of different decks, and how they relate together? Do I assume that the headings in the left frame - Visconti, Marseilles, Besancon, Piedmonte, are all different 'strands' ? So the earliest version of a Piemontese deck is 1850?

Sorry if this seems elementary

PathWalker.....I found this link helpful in getting my head around the different types of historical decks. It provides a good visual overview rather than a list which you may find helpful as well.

Best wishes

Ah, thank you for this - diagrams are easier to get to grips with than lists, it's true

Pathwalker

PathWalker said:

Ah, thank you for this - diagrams are easier to get to grips with than lists, it's true

Pathwalker

Click to expand...

Paul Huson's book "Mystical Origins of the Tarot" also has an excellent overview of the different historical patterns of tarot decks in one of the appendices. There is a limited preview of the book available through Google that includes that entire appendix. You can see it here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=dVne-RK9UVYC&pg=PP1&dq=paul+huson#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Scroll down to the table of contents and click on the entry for "Appendix 1. Historical Tarot Decks."

ETA: It actually looks like a chunk of the appendix might be missing after all. In the section of the appendix describing the Belgian pattern, it abruptly runs without warning into a description of Italian Minchiate decks. At least you'll be able to tell from this preview whether this book has what you're looking for. It's an excellent book on tarot history and readily available.

Alan

Thanks very much for this Alan, I shall certainly have a look,as you say, to get a flavour of the book and see if it's going to be helpful.

Thank you
Pathwalker

Andy's Playing Cards has a lot of good historical information on the different tarot patterns. It's in the process of moving so I don't know how friendly it will be at the moment but you should be able to use a least part of it.

Great thread PathWalker, I'm sure this is a question many people wonder about and I know I once asked a similar question a few years ago.

I find Andy Playing Cards to be one of my most used sites and I often link to it in these forums. Trionfi has a vast amount of information and is a great resource but for someone new to historical decks I think its a difficult site to navigate unless you know what you are looking for in the first place. I also dislike sites with frames.

I have an idea for you PathWalker, which I will come back and post about when I have a little more time.

There are basically two types of Marseilles decks, type I and type II. The Dodal is a TdM I and the Conver is a TdM II and if you study both decks you will see differences between them which will help identify other decks in the TdM ilk, and in my view is the best start for understanding the Tarot de Marseilles. So I would say that a good start in studying these decks is to have at least one of each of these two types so that you will get accustomed to being able to identify other decks on sight.

Looks like you have a Grimaud which is classified as TdM II so it would be good to have a TdM I in your collection (Noblet being the most easily accessible one at the time of writing this). From there I would recommend a Veiville because its a very interesting and quirky Marseilles type deck which will tease you with lots of questions.

Also, have a read of the Contrasting the Dodal and Conver threads to get you started.