On the Tarot de Marseille de François Chosson

Cesar

I would like to share some thoughts on the Tarot de François Chosson, published by Yves Renaud.

First of all, I would like to mention that this deck is of high quality. I have been using one of my copies for a while and it is perfectly suitable to shuffle and spread. And the images are just outstanding.

Of course, as a historical reproduction this deck has all the flaws of the original one. But these flaws make it even more realistic. On page 65 of a book by Mazlo, there is an interesting sentence about the Chosson deck which I would like to quote:

«Sieur Chosson était probablement un des derniers de la lignée à avoir essayé de suivre scrupuleusement la Tradition dans la reproduction des Tarots».
(Robert Mazlo: À la recherche du Tarot perdu. Editions Ramuel. 1998).

I must say that when I bought the Madenié and the Chosson (I bought them together) it was the Madenié the one that I liked the most. But my Madenié was not suitable for use as it is the Chosson. For that reason I began using the Chosson (of which I bought an additional copy to store in my collection) and by working with it I have come to feel a great link with this deck and all its designs and colours. Now I just love it.

I would like to know your opinions about this deck, which by the present time is my working deck of the tradition of the Tarot de Marseille.
 

Philippe

As I said in a previous post, I too like this deck for having some pink (the colour of revolution ). It pleases me that his figures are less fleshy than those of Madinie, they are very alive.
And there is the enigma of the two of coins unsolved to this day. It could be the oldest TdM-2, even if Chosson is 22 years younger than Madinie.

Reading the quotation, I'm not sure I will buy the (very expensive) Mazlo's book. What is that Tradition to which he refers ? How can he be so sure of Chosson's orthodoxy ?
 

Cesar

Reading the quotation, I'm not sure I will buy the (very expensive) Mazlo's book. What is that Tradition to which he refers ? How can he be so sure of Chosson's orthodoxy ?

The book written by Mazlo is interesting but not a must. As to the question, he analyses many points in which he sees the respect of Chosson to tradition, as the angles of some designs, the elements of some cards, etc. Of course, all that is certainly subject for discussion.
In selecting a deck from the tradition of the Tarot de Marseille there is always a debatable argument about originality or respect to some prejudged idea of what this tradition must be. I think that picking up a deck is a very subjective process in which we choose based on the links that we can build with a specific one. In my case, the more I work with the Chosson the more I like it and respect it. But I wouldn't dare to say that it is the very one that we MUST choose.
I quoted from Mazlo's book because is one of the few references that I have found to the Chosson deck, and truly the most highly praising one.