Il Tarocco del Mondo Nuovo
Imaginative Tarot card designs by Amerigo Folchi relating to Columbus and the New World.
Amerigo Folchi (d. 2020) clearly did a lot of research before coming up with the designs for this pack and the themes for each suit. These sources include the writings of Christopher Columbus as well as some more modern-day authors. What strikes one almost immediately are the colours used (predominantly blue, yellow, orange-red and purple) and the marbled backgrounds against which the designs are set. Each suit is associated with a different theme: arts and crafts of the native populations of the New World (pentacles); the ocean, birds and animals (cups); Spanish heraldic symbols (swords); globes and nautical charts (wands). Each card carries a title in Italian, Spanish, English and French. One has to admire Folchi for his endless imagination when devising so many different images for so many different Tarot packs • See the box
Above: Il Tarocco del Mondo Nuovo printed and published by Italcards, Bologna, Italy, 1991. 78 cards + 2 title cards + fold-out leaflet in tuck box. The back design is repeated on the back of the box. Size: 70.5 x 110 mm. © Italcards 1991
By Roddy Somerville
France • Member since May 31, 2022
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
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