More Lombard editions from Court de Gébelin
Franco Pratesi
1. Introduction
As far as I remember, it seems to me that historians have the
questionable habit of considering everything recorded in written
documents as history and all that precedes as prehistory; thus the
largest part of human history would be lost. The history under
examination here is far more limited and refers to the diffusion in
Italy of the texts on the ideas introduced in Paris by Court de Gébelin:
it is the explanation or, better, a particular interpretation of the
tarocchi [or, in French, tarot] images.
In this case, it
seems to me that there would even be two independent "prehistories":
first, any previous interpretations, more or less close to the Italian
origin of the game; then, any editions published in Italy, of which
knowledge has been lost, but which would document an early arrival of
Parisian ideas. Here I am only interested in this second prehistory,
before moving on to the known publications, that is, the documented
part, whether more or less consultable. Therefore, I will also collect
some information on editions that have not been preserved (and I will
indicate two, from different years and cities, and one later), but I
will not look for anything published before 1781, the date of the first
French edition of Court de Gébelin.
2. The zero editions
A. Possible previous Cremonese edition
This edition is by no means certain to have existed – there are only a
few clues about it. One is not a real clue, but it helps to establish
the context: it is a known fact that the printers who published almanacs
with calendars and useful information for citizens usually changed even
the initial part from year to year, but often republished one already
printed by them, perhaps a few years later.
However, real clues are given to us by Isidoro Bianchi himself in presenting his work. [note 1] The beginning is: “My Voyage in Europe [Viaggio in Europa
likely a text inserted in a previous almanac] has filled me with
another astonishment, which is not inferior to that about which I wrote
to you last year.” As is seen, the author talks about his journey in the
way someone who has recently returned to his city would talk about it,
but this does not correspond to the year 1795, the year the almanac was
printed, when Bianchi had already re-established himself in Cremona for
several years.
On Isidoro Bianchi (Cremona 1731-1808), we
have available an extensive biography with much information, among which
is also mentioned the writing on tarocchi, corresponding to the early
80s.
In Cremona he became closely linked to the publisher Lorenzo Manini, collaborating on the Novellista patriotico and the almanac published by him (with writings on the freedom of the grain trade, on the "influence of trade on talents," on "common sense," “on the game of Pharaoh,” and “of the tarocco”). [note 2]
This sentence is followed by another which cites works by the same
Bianchi dated 1781, 1785, and 1781. Unless the author of the biography
has confused the dates and publishers, also for tarocco it should be a
previous edition, because the Almanac found in Cremona was printed in
1795, and even the name of the publisher does not correspond. If we then
assume that Freemasonry functioned as a transmission channel, we know
that Isidoro Bianchi's relationships with
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1. https://www.naibi.net/A/CREM1795.pdf
2. https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/isidoro-bianchi_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
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freemasonry
had been early, with activities in several European cities. On the
other hand, Bianchi had long had close relationships precisely with the
Parisian cultural environments.
Therefore, it can be assumed that Bianchi had written the First and Second Letters
a few years after returning to Cremona from his trip to Europe in the
Seventies, and that these were done for almanacs that have been lost,
while the printer would have reused the material subsequently for the
two editions known to us, the one on Pharaoh of 1794 and the one on
tarocco of 1795.
I started by saying that I wasn't interested
in the part of "prehistory" prior to 1781, but there is a sentence that
deserves a comment. Bianchi tells us that "no one tries to penetrate the
meaning of the allegorical figures" and that "Among us such a book also
serves our entertainment", clearly meaning here that the tarocchi deck
is used by card players for their own amusement and nothing else; that
is, no one has noticed that he is holding cards that represent something
sacred, more or less. He then adds that "a certain Court de Gebelin . .
. only in Europe" has managed to discover the mystery and report it. In
short, no one previously would have posed the problem of the possible
meaning of the tarocchi cards; on the other hand, even if he had asked
himself the question, no one would have found the right solution before.
B. Probable Milanese edition
The clue in this case is found in an edition of which I have only found citations in later works. [note 3] The most important reference to this edition is found in the well-known Bibliography of Alfredo Lensi [note 4].
Game (The) of tarocchi and its rules [Giuoco (Il) de’ tarocchi e sue regole]. Treatise attached to the almanac [giornale, literally “journal”] for the current year 1790. Milan, Giambattista Bianchi, s.a. (1789), in -16, pp. 48, 24 and 36 nos.Lensi's information that the book in question "mentioned the meaning of the tarocco cards" appears particularly important, because it is not clear in what context other than the Parisian one the "meaning of the cards" could be inserted. The date of printing, 1789, is therefore very important, as it would be very close to the original text of 1781 by Court de Gébelin. The fact that here we find Milan and not Cremona may be more or less important. Less important would be if it were found that the hypothetical first Cremonese edition of Isidoro Bianchi's text was not only published but could also serve as the original for the Milanese copy (the possibility of an extension to the capital of the knowledge of the Egyptian ideas would remain significant in any case). More important would be if it were shown that an independent version was published in Milan; and then the corresponding transmission route would also have to be investigated.
In the preface it is said that this booklet is the translation of a Latin treatise published by Eutrapelius Manfridius. It speaks of the general practice in those time of playing tarocco, divides the games into those of chance and those of study, mentions the meaning of the tarocco cards and finally gives its rules. The second part, entitled: “Almanac,” [Giornale] is nothing more than a calendar.
Unfortunately, no traces have been found of this small work seen by Lensi. Only a few passages are known, taken from a reprint three years later, which tell us nothing about the question under consideration here. [note 3]
3. The first edition
I recently described this tarocchi-calendar almanac by transcribing in full the "ideas of an Egyptian.” Subsequently, I have been able to add other information found in the meantime. [note 5] My presentation of this almanac caught the interest of Michael Howard, who translated it into English [note 6] and then used it to widely extend the discussion. [note 7] Evidently the diffusion in
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3. http://www.naibi.net/A/MILA1793.pdf
4. A. Lensi, Bibliografia Italiana dei giuochi di carte. Ravenna 1985.
5. http://www.naibi.net/A/MILA178992.pdf
6. https://pratesitranslations.blogspot.com/2023/07/16.html
7. https://forum.tarothistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2682
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Italy of these ideas has a certain interest. Usually, those who write on the topic limit themselves to the main places of transit [passaggi], that is, first in France, then in Great Britain, perhaps even reaching the USA. As stated, I limit myself to the Italian environment, or rather Lombardy, if not even Cremona, and in this case, I can refer to the specific studies cited and summarize the essentials.
We find the booklet in question indicated in the Supplementary Essay of the Lensi Bibliografia. [note 4]
77.1. Ideas of an Egyptian on the game of tarocco [Idee di un egiziano sul giuoco del tarocco]. Almanac for the leap year 1796. Giuseppe Feraboli, Cremona, s.a. [1795], in 32°, pp. 8 nos.Today it is so rare that only two copies can be found, in the State Library of Cremona, and of one, only the introductory part is preserved. In particular, the date of this Almanac [Almanacco] is important, because it approaches 1781, the year in which Court de Gébelin published his pioneering text with these ideas.
The fact of using the topic as an introduction in the almanac of the year 1796 makes it clear that it was expected to receive considerable appreciation from the public. Regardless of the acceptance of these ideas among the players of tarocchi, which is difficult to reconstruct, one can easily assume that from then on, the Egyptian ideas were able to interest even those who did not play cards, and it becomes of interest to verify if and how the novelty managed to spread.
4. The second edition
The Cremonese almanac for the leap year of 1796 could appear to be an edition without precedent and without sequel. Instead, we have seen that perhaps there had been a precedent, while there was certainly a sequel and we have news of it from Lensi, as usual. [note 4]
7. Almanac published by Monsignor Antonio Dragoni. Cremona, 1814.In the Supplementary Essay to the same Bibliografia, there is other information.
Cicognara in his History of copperplate engraving [Storia della calcografia] on p. 131 cites this almanac and says that it contains an interesting article on the meaning of tarocchi cards.
7* Almanac.Contrary to the usual, Lensi does not give us information about a book he had seen, but only takes the essential data from a subsequent description. Even Giampaolo Dossena, of Cremona, a very expert writer on the subject, testifies to us that no examples can be found. If this is the case, it will be useless to look for a copy today to check for any differences from the previous edition. The information on Monsignor Dragoni in the edition of Giambattista Biffi's Diary appears only because Dragoni was the first after Biffi's death to publish biographical notes on that author. In the Inventory [Repertorio], on p. 137, we read the following.
It is probable that this pamphlet (of which no copy has yet been found) constitutes further evidence of the diffusion of Court de Gébelin's fantasies in certain Cremonese circles. See n. 77.1. of this bibliography. Information on Antonio Antonino Dragoni in G. Biffi, Diary [Diario] (1777-1781), edited by G. Dossena, Milan, Bompiani, 1976, p. 137.
Dragoni, Antonio Antonino XXXIII // Son (1778-1860) of an Alessandro; tutor of the children of Serafino Sommi; reorganizer of Biffi's papers; forger; Biffi's first biographer; minus habens [having less, euphemism for someone of lesser or restricted ability or skill]. See DOSSENA 1967, pp. 83-84.The further reference is to a year of the Studia Ghisleriana, a periodical that is not easy to consult. However, the summary attestations present would already be sufficient to indicate the personage’s lack of cultural importance. Without the possibility of a direct comparison with the previous edition, one can rely on the usual practice of these printers, that of reproducing the texts either with no modifications or at most with minimal editorial corrections.
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5. The third edition
This
is not strictly a re-edition of the previous ones but an extended
annotated quotation of the Egyptian ideas by Leopoldo Cicognara (Ferrara
1767 - Venice 1834), known and appreciated at the time in the political
and artistic environment. On the multiple activities of his discussed
we can find many notices in the Biographical Dictionary of Italians. [note 8]
His relevant work in this context is a monograph of art history, in
which, however, also the topic under examination here is taken up in
detail.
Gibelin [sic] in his research on this subject, with great ingenuity and wandering pleasantly perhaps in dreams, claims that the cards of Tarocco, a game not known in France, are an ancient book, whose allegory he finds in conformity with the civil, philosophical and religious doctrine of the ancient Egyptians, and he wants to recognize it as a work of the profound wisdom of those peoples, where everything was great and mysterious, and the only ones who could invent it, rivaling in this regard the Indians, to whom the invention of chess is attributed.Cicognara does not seem personally to attribute any particular seriousness to the interpretation of the cards of the tarocchi: an interpretation born "perhaps pleasantly wandering in dreams" cannot have a rigorous basis, much less a scientific one. Indeed, he expresses himself explicitly in this regard: "However, we do not suppose that the interpretation given by the aforementioned author cannot encounter many exceptions, and that these enigmas could not be explained differently by others.” In short, for him the main reason for entering into the question is the acceptance of those ideas.
He derives, in fact, the name Tarocchi from Tar, which means way, road, and Ros, Ro, Rog, which means royal King, and literally expresses royal road of life, so that the different states into which the life of men is divided passing in review, it is easy to find how to explain, without too many contortions of ingenuity, any allegory of this game.
In fact, everyone knows that the images of things served ancient peoples as characters, and since the various combinations of objects that are reproduced in the visual faculty dispose the observer to meditation, so in them he easily finds a mystical language, which especially in the East it was reserved for the priesthood, and which in our age forms the occupation of many scholars, and gives rise to many controversies. Therefore, if the face of an Obelisk or a Scarab presents us with a quantity of images to which it is necessary to attribute a meaning, why do we want to find it extravagant, or rather why do we want that what each of the Tarocchi expresses is without meaning, and why wouldn't we want that, representing these just as many movable characters by their various combinations, they should not equally denote various discourses symbolizing the events of human life under this mystical and joking veil? It seems much stranger to us to want to deny these little flying pages a meaning, making fun of the investigations that have been carried out to explain it.
However, we do not suppose that the interpretation given by the aforementioned author cannot encounter many exceptions, and that these enigmas could not be explained differently by others. It is nice to mention it briefly here, also due to the favor with which this same explanation was received in an Almanac published in Cremona in 1814 edited by Monsignor Antonio Dragoni, very well-versed in pleasant and profound studies, who having reproduced it as an instructive and joking object at the same time, in a country where this game is still a common entertainment, he gratified the research of some of his friends without delving further into the obscure matter. The emblematic cards of the Tarocchi, being XXI, immediately presented the idea suggested by the Egyptian doctrine, which was later so dear to Pythagoras, being the 3, perfect number, and the 7, mystical number par excellence. So it is that That, because his book or picture of creation and life contained all possible perfections and was mysterious par excellence, he composed it of three classes of images, noting the three first ages of the World, the age of gold, that of silver, and the third of bronze, and each class of images therefore had to be represented in seven divisions, as a greater perfection and more profound mysticism. [note 9]
Thus, Cicognara testifies to us that the "ideas of an Egyptian" had caught the interest of the Cremonese monsignor, "very well versed in his pleasant and profound studies" (the judgment of minus habens was
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8. https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/francesco-leopoldo-cicognara_(Dizionario-Biografico)
9. L. Cicognara, Memorie spettanti alla storia della calcografia. Prato 1831. https://books.google.it/books?id=
BWCxb1RDezIC&printsec=frontcover&hl=it#v=onepage&q&f=false, on pp. 130-131.
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still far in the future); not only that, the interest had also extended to the city's cultural environment, with some of the monsignor's friends immersed in the corresponding research. In short, only a few years after the first publication, there was a group of scholars in Cremona who continued their research toward developing those Egyptian ideas.
Therefore, Cicognara’s main importance for this study is that he confirms the importance of the previous edition. Today we know Monsignor Dragoni's speech and its setting mainly from here: without these pages, both Lensi and then Dossena would not have been able to tell us anything about it. But at the same time, Cicognara's recapitulation could certainly serve as a relaunch for a further diffusion of Egyptian ideas in subsequent times and in different locations.
Not only; more generally, in his main work, Leopoldo Cicognara dedicated a considerable part to the tarocchi; this could serve as a beacon to draw attention to a subject that had until then been little studied at an academic level. Some of his hypotheses and reconstructions were later discredited, but the pioneering importance of his treatment remains valid.
As for Cicognara's involvement with tarocchi, I can finally quote a letter addressed to him on Jan. 15, 1829, by Francesco Aglietti, of which I transcribe the beginning.
My dear friend,I found no precedents or follow-ups for this information. Even though it is about tarocchi, I don't think that the Egyptian ideas for which I was looking in other Italian publications are directly involved here. However, for the history of tarocchi in Italy, this could also be a trail to follow.
The matter that you hold so dear about that game of tarocchi was strongly opposed by President Cornacchia in the Genoa conference at which it was desired to present it. Despite this conflict, which is due to the rivalry that reigns between the directors of public establishments, this affair will end according to your wish. [note 10]
Florence, 03.08.2023
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10. Milan, Braidense National Library, Cicognara, Cart. Cicognara 2/1-2.
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