Besançon Tarot 1700 Reproduction by Il Meneghello

The Besançon Tarot is a distinct variant of the Marseilles tradition in which the Popess and Pope cards were replaced by Juno and Jupiter. This substitution was a practical one, meant to satisfy both Catholics who objected to religious figures appearing on playing cards and Protestants who took issue with the symbolism of papal authority. The resulting deck was especially popular among French-speaking and German-speaking players in eastern France, Switzerland, and neighboring parts of Germany.

This Il Meneghello reproduction faithfully preserves the original printing's quirks, imperfections and all, rather than cleaning them up with modern image software. The experience of working with this deck is therefore closer to what it would have felt like when first produced. This is from Il Meneghello's third edition of 2,000 decks, with the edition number revealed when the sealed package is opened.