Jacob Jerger Besancon Tarot Deck

In stock
Sale price$53.00

This restoration is based on the 1820-1845 tarot deck created by German-born master cartier Jacob Jerger in Besançon, France. The original decks were printed from carved woodblocks and colored with stencils.

The Tarot de Besançon is derived from the earlier Tarot de Marseille. The most notable difference is the replacement of The Popess and The Pope with the Roman gods, Juno and Jupiter.

This is the complete 78-card tarot deck and includes an information card and promotional card. The deck is in French and the extra cards are in English.

This first edition is limited to 1000 decks. Each deck is individually numbered on the seal.

Authenticity You Can Trust

Authenticity You Can Trust

All of our products are genuine. No replicas, no knockoffs. We work with independent artists and publishers, so your purchase directly supports their creative art. As a small business, we handpick every item to ensure it's meaningful, beautifully made, and truly worth having.

Artist

Krisztina Kondor

Cards

80

Size

2.75 x 4.75 inches

Material

310 gsm card stock with a linen finish

Guidebook

Not included

Krisztina Kondor

Krisztina is the co-founder of Artisan Tarot. She has a Master’s Degree in Design from The University of Sopron. She specializes in linocut printmaking, which is similar to how tarot cards were produced. This background gives her unique insight into digitally restoring historic artwork. To date, she has created 16 tarot decks for Artisan Tarot.

Additional Information

Restoration Process

The restoration consisted of meticulously redrawing and recoloring the images. We also clarified many of the details to create consistency. Our goal was not to create an exact reproduction, but an elegant and refined deck that inspires the imagination of the modern reader.

Historical Information

This restoration is based on the 1820-1845 tarot deck createdby German-born master cartier Jacob Jerger in Besançon, France. The original decks were printed from carved woodblocks and colored with stencils.

The Tarot de Besançon is derived from the earlier Tarot de Marseille. The most notable difference is the replacement of The Popess and The Pope with the Roman gods, Juno and Jupiter. Experts believe these figures were changed to prevent offense in regions with diverse religious beliefs.

Other distinctive characteristics include the description “France J Jerger” on each trump and court card. Additionally, the back design features a marbled paper pattern, which originated from bookbinding practices in France and Germany, and was common throughout the 17th and 19th centuries.

This deck was digitally recreated by Krisztina Kondor with the assistance of William Rader. They studied the decks preserved in The National Library of France and researched their history to understand the images. To create consistency, the same color palette was used throughout the deck. The misaligned coloring was corrected, and details were also enhanced.