text translation?

mrpants

Can anyone help me translate the text on the attached photo? I tried entering it in google translate, but either I misspelled things, or some of the words are in an older spelling that google doesn't recognize. It's from the 2 coupes of the Vandenborre Bacchus/Flemmish tarot. Any help would be appreciated!

Cheers,

Corey
 

Philippe

In modern french : Pour connaître que la plus basse des deniers ou des coupes l'emporte sur les plus hautes quand au fait du jeu"
I'm not familiar enough with the ancient rules of the Tarot game that I can explain it precisely but essentially it means that the lowest card in the cups or the coins outweighs the higher ones.

ETA Quote from Mr Dummett :

Dummett by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

It seems to imply that the Vandeborre Bacchus tarot wasn't used in France... however all the cards are entitled in french.
 

Barleywine

I've seen this sort of thing before in "trick-taking" playing-card games, where the lowest "pip" card in a suit will trump or beat the highest one when playing a "trick." Off the top of my head, one played in eastern Canada by my grandparents was "Forty-fives" (or Auction 45, as they played it), which originated in Ireland. It was the opposite of the quote here; 10 (the highest red card) would trump 2 (the lowest), and the reverse in the black suits.
 

kwaw

pour conoistreque la plus basse de deniez et de coupe emporte les plus hautes quand au fait du jeu

Know that in the way of the game the lowest of the coins and cups outweigh the highest.

The rule that two suits run 1-10 and two 10-1 is an old rule that can be found at least as far back as the Mamluk Kanjifa (although the particular suits differ). It is mentioned as one of the rules in the oldest French rules of tarot, if memory serves me right. When played with French suited tarots I think it is the red suits (hearts and diamonds) that run in reverse order (with some other non-tarot games too, I think).

edited to add:
Such rules were discussed a little some time back:
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=63519
 

kwaw

It is mentioned as one of the rules in the oldest French rules of tarot, if memory serves me right...

From the rules of tarot, 1637:

Mais afin de le trouver plus agreable il est bon d'oster douze cartes inutiles des quatre peintures, c'est a dire trois de chacunes, sçauoir les dix, neuf, & huict des couppes & deniers, & les trois, deux & az d'espées & bastons qui sont les moindres de chacun de ces points, par ce que les hautes de couppes & deniers ne sont pas de plus grande valeur que les basses des Espées & bastons.


In which it suggests that to make the game more agreeable reduce the size of the pack by removing 12 cards, the three lowest cards of each pip suit, that is the 10s, 9s and 8s of the suits of cups and coins, and the aces, 2s and 3s of the swords and batons.
 

Abrac

Here's a pic from Stuart Kaplan's Encyclopedia, Vol. 1. It's from the Jean Galler Tarot. It says the same thing as the Vandenborre but a little easier to read. The Galler uses "V"s rather than "U"s. Kaplan's caption says what Philippe and kwaw already talked about.

"The two of cups contains a tablet inscribed 'Povr conoistre qve la plvs basse de deniez et de covpes enporte les plvs havtes qvand a fait dv Jev (sic),' which indicates that the lowest value cards in the suits of coins and cups carry the highest values when played in the game of tarot."

Where Kaplan says "qvand a fait" I believe it should be "qvand av fait." The (sic) reference is Kaplan's.
 

kwaw

Here's a pic from Stuart Kaplan's Encyclopedia, Vol. 1. It's from the Jean Galler Tarot. It says the same thing as the Vandenborre but a little easier to read. The Galler uses "V"s rather than "U"s. Kaplan's caption says what Philippe and kwaw already talked about.

"The two of cups contains a tablet inscribed 'Povr conoistre qve la plvs basse de deniez et de covpes enporte les plvs havtes qvand a fait dv Jev (sic),' which indicates that the lowest value cards in the suits of coins and cups carry the highest values when played in the game of tarot."

Where Kaplan says "qvand a fait" I believe it should be "qvand av fait." The (sic) reference is Kaplan's.


It is a common feature of the two of cups of the Belgium Tarot pattern (though this particulary rule of the game, as noted above, is much older) :

Nicolas Bodet, Brussels (1743-1751);

Jean Galler, Brussels (1738-1760);

Sarton (1756-1767);

Jean Gisaine, Dinant (c.1750);

Martin Dupont, Brussels (1766);

Vandenborre, Brussels (1762-1803).

Although made by cardmakers in Belgium they are usually marked 'carte de suise'; possibly because they were made for export to this region due to the popularity of some new 18th century rules of the game there in which the Fool was treated as a trump, number 22, instead of the excuse.(?)

http://i-p-c-s.org/pattern/ps-19.html
 

mrpants

Wow, thanks guys! I had a feeling it was related to game play.