[Archive]: A Collection of Tarot Cards in Uncut and Proof State

(SOLESIO, Faustino)

Edité par Faustino Solesio, (Genoa, Italy, 1929

Seventeen folio sheets of tarot cards in both uncut sheets and proof states, each sheet measuring approximately 15" x 20". Printed in two to six colors. Light general wear, a few with light soil, foxing, or short tears, overall near fine. Sheets contain 540 cards total. Seventeen sheets of tarot cards in varying degrees of production, featuring the expected striking iconography: cups, swords, kings and queens, suns and moons, and many others. The sheets, many with penciled marginal notes and several dated, are all likely produced by the firm of Faustino Solesio of Genoa, Italy. The Solesios have been called a "dynasty of card-makers"; their participation in the craft in Italy and Spain can apparently be traced back to the early 17th Century. Of the 17 sheets, at least eight are completed or in the final stages of production; i.e., most or all of the colors are printed, and the sheets are printed on the verso (if the images are printed on card stock) or laid down onto cardstock with a printed back (if the images are printed on thin paper). One series of 10 sheets interestingly shows the proof process at work. Another notes that the images were printed in 1913, but the patterned back they are laid down onto was printed in 1926! Sixteen of the of the 17 sheets we can likely attribute to Solesio's firm, given, at the very least, the similarities of the patterned backs. 1. 10 sheets in proof process. Each measuring approximately 15½" x 21". Several annotated "Maggio [May] 1929." Rectos printed in up to six colors; five sheets with the verso printed in a crossed-line pattern in two colors. Several with printer's notes in pencil. 30 cards per sheet. Aside from a single tackhole per sheet, just about fine. Five sheets are printed in a single color: yellow, flesh ("carne"), blue-green, blue, or red. The other five (all with patterned backs printed in two colors) are a proof sequence. Beginning with a sheet printed in black and yellow, each following sheet shows the addition of a color, for a cumulative effect: first blue-green, then red, then blue, and finally the flesh tone. We believe the final sheet to be the finished product, printed in six colors. Because of the similarities of the patterned backs to other, labeled cards, we think they are likely by Solesio's firm. 2. One sheet, measuring approximately 22" x 14¼." Recto printed in six colors, verso in two. A penciled note in Italian states that the recto was printed ("stampa davanti") in March, 1913, and that the verso was printed in February, 1926. The images are printed on a thin sheet of paper, and the patterned back on card stock. 24 cards total. Slightly bowed, a couple areas of tiny loss on the recto, mostly at the edges but a few affecting the images, one tiny tear barely touching the margin on one card, else fine. 3. Four sheets. Two printed rectos only on thin paper, one sheet same, but laid down onto a cardstock back with a printed pattern and lightly varnished, and the final sheet (of a different size but grouped here because of stylistic similarities) on cardstock, and printed recto and verso. Three of the four sheets are marked "Faustino Solesio, Genoa," and the stylistic similarity of the fourth leaves little doubt. The two sheets printed rectos only and the third with the back laid down measure approximately 22" x 16". 40 cards per sheet. The sheets printed recto only have some edgewear and faint foxing and staining, very good. The completed cards, lightly varnished, have some occasional loss on the at the edges of the image side, occasionally affecting the image, just about near fine. This sheet is noted in pencil: "Stampa bella / [?] ! anteoguerra(?) interno(?) Galvani," praising the impression and possibly noting it as a prewar example? The final sheet, printed recto and verso on cardstock, measures approximately 25" x 11½". 36 cards total. Two small corner chips, a bit of light soil, near fine. 4. One sheet, measuring approximately 21" x 14." Beautifully printed. N° de réf. du vendeur 456120

Détails bibliographiques

Titre : [Archive]: A Collection of Tarot Cards in ...
Éditeur : Faustino Solesio, (Genoa, Italy
Date d'édition : 1929
Reliure : Unbound
Etat : Near Fine
Edition : Edition originale