however with the Noblet, there are few mistakes, if any, because I think that the spellings used were probably accepted at the time. Besides, the tarot card of Jean Dodal ( from 1701, 51 years subsequently ) contains many errors .
personally, I find no error in the Major Arcana, we have L EMPERATRISE ( alternatively of L’IMPERATRICE ) and L ESTOILLE ( alternatively of L’ETOILE ) and a consumption of V alternatively of U and I rather of J, with for example THE FOV or THE IVGEMENT. lone one real fault is to be noted with the KING OF COVPPES with 2 “ p ” in the Minor Arcana. furthermore, there is lone one numbering error in the whole game, on the 6 of Cups ( where the VI and IV appear ). Again, following to this, the Dodal tarot card has many more errors on the numbers. I ‘m talking about the spell to make it gain that a tarot card thus well written for the time is a real accomplishment and shows that Jean Noblet ( or his engraver ! ? ) was in truth a scholar, a knowing serviceman. And thus we have pastime to study close the specificities of his tarot card .
A remarkable expression in the names of the cards is the frequent practice of the letter L, probably in reference to the maestro ‘s feather. Thus we read LL BATELEVR ( L rather of E ), LA ROUE DE EORTUNE ( E alternatively of F ), LEMPERANCE ( L alternatively of T ). I think that these errors are voluntary, and denote a message like “ Let those who have ears hear me ! That is to say : “ if you see and recognize my voluntary errors, then you will understand that I have a message to give you ”.
On the Major Arcana, we can observe some very concern details that make this game unique :
- LE FOV, is still called LE FOU, it will only become LE MAT with the tarot of Pierre Madenié in 1709. He shows his genitals ! There is a man’s head on the pommel of his stick. There are no bells on the ground. The animal that runs the madman, is not a canid, but seems to be an amphibious creature (blue color).
- I LL BATELEVR holds an acorn between his two fingers instead of a coin, he points to a finger of honor in the shape of a penis. The dice on the table give the numbers 1, 3, 2.
- III L EMPERATISE looks from the front.
- IIII L EMPEREVR looks to the right.
- VI L AMOVREVX displays a blindfolded angel. The two women are distinctly wearing a laurel wreath and a wreath of flowers.
- VIII IVSTICE ostensibly pushes one arm of the scale with his left elbow, unbalancing the two plates ! She is not wearing a tiara.
- VIIII L’ERMITE has no H in its name (no link with Hermes).
- XI FORCE seems to show a bear instead of a lion and you can’t see his foot.
- XII THE PANDV pulls out his tongue and his hands are quite strange (wings ?).
- XIII LA MORT still retains its name, it is oriented to the left while the two heads on the ground look to the right.
- XIV TEMPERANCE has a very small head and you can’t see her foot.
- XV LE DIABLE has red beads on his wings and holds in his hand a crotch instead of a sword blade (as in the standard).
- XVI LA MAISON DIEV has its lightning (or its flames) which rises towards the sky and the sun (and not the other way around as we see in the canonical form).
- XVII does not yet show the black bird perched on the bush. The woman is half woman, half man.
- XVIII LA LVNE shows a face from the front.
- XVIIII LE SOLEIL shows a man and a woman. The wall is multicolored.
- XVIIII LE IUGEMENT shows flames and not an aura around the angel, and the angel is squinting !
- XXI LE MONDE has a bull (not a horse) with a halo. The lion is squinting. The woman has no veil but a cape. Her intimacy is masked by foliage. She carries neither a flask nor a second wand.
The tarot card of Jean Noblet is the oldest tarot card de Marseille. even if his major Arcana does not however respect the unharmed canonic form, all the trumps are show and in the right order. The differences with the standard are mentioned above. We do not know if Noblet ( or its engraver ) was inspired by early tarots, that is to say if there have been predecessors that respect the Marseilles criterion. It is possible but improbable. We know the Tarot Anonyme de Paris of 1615 and the Tarot de Jacques Vieiville of 1650, these 2 tarots have very different forms .
I personally think that this Tarot is indeed the beginning Tarot de Marseille to have seen the light of day. The engraving proficiency is fine and absolutely mastered compared to the other Tarots of the lapp period ( Anonyme de Paris and Vieiville ) where the lines of the drawings are coarse. The spell and the number have very few errors. last, the tarot card is insurgent and demonstrates the intelligence and wisdom of the engraver in the message he conveys to us. In this, the Tarot de Noblet is highly valuable to us for discipline .
