In contrast to the English School, authors and readers from the French school generally attached more importance to the details of the traditional illustrations. Accepting the Tarot de Marseille as the genuine Tarot, they preferred to keep on using it instead of looking for new and modified versions. Some newly designed decks did originate in the French school, but their use remained limited.
The French school’s interest in the precise details of the traditional cards became especially significant during the 20th century. Ironically, this came a little too late. Meanwhile, the shift to industrial card printing at the later part of the 19th century brought about an impoverishment of the image details. The lines became simpler and more uniformed in comparison to the hand-made quality of the old wooden carvings. Also, the limited capabilities of the printing machines of the time reduced the variety of colors. As mechanical card production became dominant, the continuous line of master card-makers who passed their expertise from one generation to another was broken, and the old secrets of the trade were lost.
In response to these losses of the 19th century, several attempts were made, during the 20th century, to restore the original depth and richness of the traditional Marseille cards. But what exactly is the traditional model? Many Tarot decks have been printed in Marseille, and although they all follow the same basic model, there is great variation in the fine details. Those aiming to restore the original model have had to face the obvious question: among all the Marseilles decks which have survived to our days, which one is the closest to “the real thing”?
Over the years, a general consensus has emerged among followers of the French school: The most authentic version of the traditional Tarot is a deck printed in 1760 by a Marseille card maker named Nicolas Conver. Not much is known about Conver himself. But many influential Tarot books, from the later part of the 19th century onwards, declare his deck, time and again, to be the most faithful and accurate representation of the ancient Tarot symbols. No other traditional deck has been held in such high esteem.
Several new Marseille-type decks appeared in the 20th century, which were based mostly on the Conver cards. The most popular of these is the “Ancient Tarot de Marseille” created in 1930 by Paul Marteau. It was published by the Grimeau company, and dominated the French Tarot scene for much of the 20th century.
Another popular type is the “restored Tarot de Marseille” created in the 1990’s by Alejandro Jodorowsky, who was my own Tarot teacher in the 1980’s, and Philippe Camoin, who comes from the family that inherited Conver’s printing house. There are also some other, less popular ones. The CBD Tarot of Marseille, whose images accompany this book, is also a restoration of the Conver deck.