Tarot de Besancon (J.B. Benois, Strasbourg, France, c 1700s; Il Meneghello, 2nd ed, Milan, 2000)

Tarot de Besancon was not actually produced in Besancon until much later. This is an earlier version from circa 1720 (CORRECTION: EARLY 1800S, although the EARLIEST was from around 1700s - Thank you Mr Giordano Berti! Mr Berti is an art historian who is very much active in the historical tarot community and have been responsible for many reproductions and facsimiles of important tarot / tarocchi / tarocco packs) and was produced by Benois in Strasbourg. Strasbourg is a city in Eastern France further North from Besancon, adjacent to Germany. Just around the corner further down is Switzerland. Although France was a heavily Catholic nation, Eastern France bordering with Germany and Switzerland was predominantly Protestant. This has been commonly taken as one possible explanation as to why we see Jupiter and Juno, a Roman God and a Roman Goddess, instead of the Pope and the Popess. Another interesting historical tidbits is that Tarot de Besancon was the tarot deck of choice for one of the grandfathers of esoteric tarot, Comte de Mellet. He and Gebelin were French occultist and esotericist in the 1700s who first associated tarot with Kabbalah. Tarot de Besancon is also the pattern of tarot which was the foundation of Stuart Kaplan's first tarot deck, The Swiss 1JJ, which marked the start of his tarot corporation and empire. With such historical associations which connect to our own time, plus the pretty Ace of Cups, and my own personal favourite Hermit, who can resist Tarot de Besancon...! KEYWORDS: Jupiter, Juno, Roman God, Roman Goddess, Protestant, Capuchin (?) Monk, Strasbourg, Eastern France, Germany, Switzerland, Comte de Mellet, first to associate tarot with Kabbalah (not Qabalah), 1700s, French PRODUCTION NOTE -- I could be wrong in my guesstimate of the Hermit as a Benedictine monk. The Benedictines wear black and not dark brown robes. Upon further inspection, the Capuchin monks, The Franciscans, appeared to wear brown robes of various shading, including the darker brown of this Hermit :) https://www.techhouse.org/~dj/cohspro... JERGER EDITION FROM 1800S -- A tidied up version of the Jerger edition of the Besancon from 1800s is available on The Game Crafter by Evalyne's Garden Gate: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/... STRASBOURG, NORTH EAST FRANCE https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/S... BESANCON, EAST FRANCE https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/2... More info -- Giordano Berti "Tarot in german countries from 16th to 18th century''. https://tarot-heritage.com/2017/01/03... http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.... #TAROTHISTORY #BESANCONTAROT #ANTIQUEPLAYINGCARDS