Tarot Resources: Tarot History
Tarot History in Brief
The following ATS Newsletter is an excerpt
from the ATS Tarotpedia site, written by Michael J. Hurst.
It
is
an outstanding introduction to the history
of Tarot over the past 500 years.
> Tarot
History - ATS Newsletter
Comparison of major decks
There are numerous early tarot decks. These
pages summarise some of the key differences and similarities
between the Payen-Dodal and the Chosson-Conver Marseille-style
decks and compare these to earlier and alternative decks.
> Tarot
History Comparison Menu
Resources
For those interested in obtaining some of
the key texts in the area, the following list of books
forms amongst of the most exhaustive materials available.
Numerous others of course exist, and this list will be
updated to reflect what may be currently available.
General Reference
Stuart Kaplan
Encyclopedia of Tarot, Volumes l, ll, lll
and lV, US Games Systems
Alfred Douglas
The Tarot: the origins, meaning and uses of the cards
Symbolism and Iconography
Robert O'Neil
Tarot Symbolism
Historical Perspectives
Decker, DePaulis and Dummett
A Wicked Pack of Cards: the origins of the occult
tarot, Duckworth, 1996
Decker and Dummett
A History of the Occult Tarot: 1870 - 1970, Duckworth,
2002
K. Frank Jensen
The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot, ATS, 2006
Esoterically Oriented
Anonymous
Meditations on the Tarot, Putnam Tarcher, 2002 [orig. in French 1967]
> review in ATS Newsletter
Christine Payne-Towler
The Underground Stream: Esoteric Tarot Revealed, 1999
Links
For a more complete list, see the Association's Taropedia History Link page.
http://tarotpedia.com/wiki/index.php/Tarot_History:_Links
Numerous sites incorporate information relevant to Tarot
History and Iconography, among them including:
Andy's
Playing Cards
Andy's Playing Cards is one of the oldest and most respected
Tarot History sites on the web. The site explores regional
tarots, Mulûk playing cards, the Visconti tarot,
the Tarot of Marseille and much more.
http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards3.htm
Carte
da Trionfi
Michael’s Tarot Notebook: Essays on
a Late-Medieval Artifact. A site primarily about the allegorical
meaning of the game of Tarot.
http://geocities.com/cartedatrionfi
Jean-Claude
Flornoy - The Tarot of Marseille and the French Tradition
The Tarot has always fascinated the casual inquirer
and amateur as much as the seasoned initiate. Here we deal with
both the history and legend of the tarot, as well as the
tarot as game, magic and "journey of the soul".
http://www.tarot-history.com
Mark Filipas - Exploring the Alphabetic Tarot
Mark first outlined a theoretical framework to organise early tarot's structure according to the Hebrew Alefbeit in his Alphabetic Masquerade, and presents on his site some essays on this and more.
http://www.spiritone.com/~mfilipas/Masquerade/Essays/allusion.html
Robert
Mealing's - Tarot History site
A site in early development, but useful for links
and information regarding early tarot decks.
http://www.tarothistory.com
Robert
O'Neill - Essays on Tarot History
The primary purpose of this series of essays is
to provide evidence that the Tarot originated in northern Italy
in the 15th century. The fundamental evidence offered is the
images themselves. No earlier period and no other geographic
venue can claim the wealth of visual evidence.
http://www.tarot.com/about-tarot/library/boneill
Tom Tadfor Little - The Hermitage
The Hermitage features articles on Gertrude Moakley's The
Tarot Cards Painted by Bonifacio Bembo, the Mantegna,
classification of Tarot Designs, and more on the early development
of tarot cards.
http://www.tarothermit.com
Trionfi
A site dedicated to the early history of Tarot Cards, with an emphasis
on the courts of Milan and Ferrara. Trionfi also presents the interesting 5x14
theory of the origin of Tarot.
http://www.trionfi.com
Uri
Raz's Tarot Site
This site features a comparison of the Tarot
of Marseilles with Golden Dawn writings and Golden Dawn
Influenced decks. Also featured is a comparison of Agrippa's
decans with Mathers' Minor Arcana.
http://www.tarot.org.il/English
Villa Revak
James W. Revak's site compares the divinatory
meanings commonly assigned to the cards and includes excerpts
from works by three Tarotists of historic importance: Papus,
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, and A. E. Waite.
http://www.villarevak.org |
