Rare & Old Tarot DecksWe started e-mailing out a newsletter, which eventually was named the Tarocks Tribune. These newsletters were extensive from the beginning, so we decided to make them more accessibly by sharing them here. This is our second. To read them all, click on the Tribune category near the top of our blog page.  Greetings! We are happy to present you with the second Tarocks newsletter. If, while reading the newsletter, you think of someone who would also enjoy it, please feel free to forward them this e-mail and let them sign up by clicking here. Writing a newsletter is always a challenge because it has proven quite difficult for us to choose which decks are to be added to the Blog next. In case you need a little reminder, the Blog is where we publish two decks twice a month in the form of a blog post that includes many detailed photos. You can take a look here. We also never know if any new and exciting decks will have been published by the time our newsletter reaches your inbox. Anyway, we hope the following will be sufficiently satisfying (at least it is for us…). The following decks have been added to the archive since the last newsletter. Just click on the name of the deck to be taken directly to its page: 1. The Knapp-Hall Tarot Deck 2. The Hermetic Tarot 3. The Oswald Wirth Tarot Deck 4. The Aquarian Tarot 5. Tarots of the Origins 6. Fortuna Playing Cards No. 169 Foreign  We are constantly extending the Index (the complete overview of everything in our collection) with decks that ultimately will also find their place in the Blog. Our aim is that it will be become a modest source of reference. We are still a ways off as there are quite a few books that also need to be added. Until then please feel invited to browse through the Index, you will find many rare and interesting decks, some of which are for sale. If you are interested in purchasing anything, please contact us using our contact form. In the September newsletter, we announced our discovery of the nine-volume opus Le Monde Primitif compare et analysée by Comte M. Court de Gebelin (CdG). The contents of a single essay within Volume 8 is believed to have led to ‘The Working with Tarot’ of today. In the essay in Volume 8 CdG commences his arguments with the question that the spiritual meaning of the tarot cards might be derived from text of the ancient Egyptians. Many impressive studies to the origins of Tarot have been made, but whether CdG’s theories are just will always be open to discussion.  Interestingly enough we obtained an authorative edition of The Egyptian Book of the Dead this October. It contains beautiful color facsimiles, transcripts and translations of the Papyri of Hunefer, Anhai, Kerasher and Netchemet compiled by Sir Wallis E. A. Budge. This megalodon edition was published in 1899 in a limited edition (for sale by the British Museum only). Some of the copies found their way to libraries, one found its way to Tarocks... It measures 60 X 39 X 5 cm (ca. 24 x 15 x 2 inches) and weighs ca. 28Kg (61.7 lbs). (insert pictures of CdG and the mammoth book). If they reveal the fundaments of CdG’s theory of the spiritual origins of the tarot we are not able tell, but they surely look like they could…  We obtained also some less well-known, new decks: The BRuT Tarot by UUSI, an oddly colored Tarocks where the cards of the Major Arcana have no faces. The remaining cards do not resemble the Minor Arcana, but those of a regular card game. The Dark Days Tarot, a very inspiring deck in black and white design. The cards are square and have silver edges. The Light Visions Tarot needs to be mentioned since it just has been published. And of course, we have to mention the limited edition of the Starman Tarot by Lo Scarabeo. This deck is designed by Davide de Angelis. The designs are based on interpretations of the tarot by David Bowie. We have several in stock, so if you don’t have a copy yet, you can order them also from us. All decks are also available at our store Fabula Rosa in Amsterdam.  Other new arrivals (these will be added to our Index shortly) and some interesting reprints that recently saw the light include three special limited editions signed by Giordano Berti. The Tarocchi Vergnano (Turin, ca. 1830) The Tarocchi Mitelli (Italia, ca. 1660-1665) The Tarocchi Perrin (Torino, ca. 1865) All the reprints are artfully done and protected by careful and traditionally designed boxes.  Finally, we hope again that this newsletter as well as the information provided on Tarocks will satisfy your expectations. In case you have any suggestions or discover any inconsistencies, please don’t hesitate and let us know. Blessed be,
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