Tarot from François Tourcaty, and Mlle Lenormand

auntie

This is so fascinating! I'm very interested in the meanings written on the cards. May I ask, eltarot, did you find access to photos of the entire deck somewhere?
Best,
Valerie
 

Caitlin Matthews

Lenormand's Handwriting

I have a sample of Lenormand handwriting and have looked at the Tourcaty online. Unfortunately, a lot of the tops and bottoms are cut off when you view in close-up and my sight isn't good enough to read things at the set size, but I can say that, on the Papesse card,the backwards stem of the d on difficulte is exactly the same as hers! Lenormand's fist is pretty conventional for the time. I would need to view the cards closer too and with a magnifier to chance my reputation and descry a few more features. The bizarre renumbering would also fit with her, although I am baffled by the violent cross-hatching over the top numeration - this doesn't fit with her character. Even if she did violently disagree with the tarot's numbering, she would have merely stricken through the number neatly, surely? it is so defaced as to be embarassing. This is not a pack that you or I would wish to display when reading in public. However, it could have been her own learning deck. On the other hand, if you have a lot of money and can afford to deface a tarot that gratuitously, then you might not be so restrained. A lot of the words written on the cards are at odds with tarot meanings we are accustomed to and there is evidence of its being used with reversed meanings as there are one or two remarks upsidedown at the top of the card. Chariot is 'quarrels' for example while the Bateleur is 'illness.' I will study it some more and see.
 

eltarot78

I found in the library of Yale University, some cards from an incomplete deck of François Tourcaty.

has another numbering, which confirms that the numbering not belong to some system.

written key words, besides being different words used in the two decks, correspond to another hand that wrote.

http://brbl-legacy.library.yale.edu/carycards/default.asp

To see the cards enter ' Tourcaty ' in the' Recorded ID' field in the ADVANCED SEARCH