Il Meneghello “Tarocco della Musica” Tarot Cards, Osvaldo Menegazzi Designs, Ltd. Ed. (209/500), c.1981 - Il Meneghello Edizione (Preloved - used)

A really great song from the production of the beginning of Il Meneghello. The well-preserved deck presents important places and authors of classical music from the pen of master Osvaldo Menegazzi.

This is the 209th of a limited edition of 500 decks.

Brilliantly conceived and extremely beautiful Tarot set made by Il Meneghello, featuring superb designs derived from the world of Classical musical by Osvaldo Menegazzi. The Major Arcana depicts scenes from the world of opera, with the names of the operas along the sides of the cards. The suits of the Minor Arcana are musical instruments. The Aces are famous Composers (including Paganini!), the Kings are famous opera houses, the remaining court cards are musicians, and the pips on the 2-10 cards are the instruments themselves. The 78-card version of the set was made in a limited edition of 500, of which the deck listed here is no. 209; a Majors-only set would later be published.

The set has the 78 cards of a Tarot set, plus 1 frontispiece card that introduces the deck and confirms the number of the deck in the limited edition run. In addition, the cards are accompanied by a folded paper insert in English that is not specific to this deck, but describes generally how Tarot cards are read. The cards are small for Tarot cards, measuring 110mm x 60mm. They come in the original packaging, a cardboard "wrap" that slides into a sleeve.

The cards are in excellent condition, "as new" or nearly so. The paper insert is also in excellent condition, although it is printed on very thin paper and is inherently vulnerable. The cardboard wrap is in excellent condition but the sleeve shows evidence of handling and has minor shelf wear.

Reference: Kaplan, Encyclopedia of Tarot, Vol. III, pp. 368, 374-5.