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19th Century French Tarot of Marseille

Nicolas Conver

Marseilles, France

c.1860

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Exceptionally rare French Tarot deck;

c.1860 printing of the famous 1760 Tarot de Marseille, realised on the original 1760 wood-blocks of Nicolas Conver;

78 card Tarot with 75 original cards & three old hand-drawn replacements;

22 Major Arcanum completely present, with old antique replacements of the 9 of Coins, 6 of Swords, & 5 of Wands;

This deck printed before the re-edition when the woods were erased and new wood-blocks were done;

Note that this is an unusually peculiar edition using a 7 color palette printed with red, yellow, green, and a flesh tone, as well as three variations of blue, light & dark blue, as well as an intermediate aqua-blue;

With the pearwood molds having been used for more than a century, the Marseilles Tarot by Nicolas Conver has been the subject of several colorings & thus the colors differ both in the colors used (the palette) and in the distribution of the colors on the surface of the cards;

For the earliest known edition, unlike the unpainted faces of this printing, the faces were tinted pink, likely to get a less disturbing image for the uninitiated who might find that the white faces were somewhat gruesome & macabre;

Black line stencils printed by a xylographic process from a mold made of pearwood, not changed until 1880;

In 1880, with the advent of industrialization and new printing processes, the Conver Tarot was still produced but with a completely different and simplified color scheme, adapted to the machines of the new period;

It is very likely that this printing is slightly earlier than that used for the re-publication by Lo Scarabeo, since the details of the traits printed in black reveals a less developed wear of the stencils;

Thick, very sturdy pasteboard cards;

Square corners;

Cards are annotated with archaic symbols & old writing;

Reverses are a dark grey pattern of rectangle patches & dots;

card measurements: 12.9 cm X 6.2 cm

75 of 78 original cards, with 3 contemporary hand-drawn replacements; no box.

Condition: good used condition, 75/78 original cards with 3 old hand-drawn replacements, annotations at corners & margins, warped lengthwise curve of deck; cards have blatantly seen some amount of intensive study & use, yet are very well preserved; most noticeably, on the collar of Le Bateleur is a small gouged scratch and the cards overall have only a few instances of surface scuffs & minor stains.

(see photographs for additional details)

shipped immediately with tracking, insured worldwide posting, with signature confirmation, securely shipped with boxed air cushion packaging, complete as pictured, refunded returns are possible

Duties & Taxes in the receiver's country, if any, are to be borne by the receiver/buyer

++++ contact seller about preferred specific shipment service arrangements ++++

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We are happy to answer any questions you may have, and can provide further pictures on request.

McClosky's currently has a a number of Antique, Vintage and Collectible Playing Cards on sale,

as well as a fine selection of Rare Tarot Decks and Fortune Telling Cards

Feel free to browse, we offer combined shipping deals!

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