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The Italian, or should I say, international tarot publisher Lo Scarabeo celebrated their 20th year anniversary
with an elaborate book about their establishing in 1987, their early history and objectives, and the
directions they have taken with the more than one hundred tarot decks published during the twenty years.
The hardcover book, 127 pages in large size format (325 mm x 240 mm), is well designed and profusely
illustrated in color. It is obvious that this book is the work of competent graphic designers.
The book begins with presenting the owners, graphic artist Pietro Alligo and sales manager Mario Pignatiello,
along with the other members of the rather small but enthusiastic and effective team; amazingly few actually,
seen in the light of the numerous tarot decks produced over the 20 years. The immediate impression is that
working for Lo Scarabeo is not a job but a lifestyle in a creative environment, an impression I also had when
I visited them a couple of years ago. To work for Lo Scarabeo means that you do not work within narrow
disciplinary boundaries, but can use your abilities in all directions. As an example it can be mentioned
that Valentina Bolatto and Elena Delmastro, who take care of the daily administration, act as editors as well.
The book consists of twelve parts, the majority of them having been written by either Giordano Berti or
Mark McElroy. After two introductory chapters: "The Story behind the Dream" and "Tarot as an Experience",
the text is structured around the different paths tarot has taken during the ages: historical, esoteric,
artistic, cultural, and metaphysical. Each chapter is profusely illustrated in color and, of course (it is after
all an anniversary book) by decks published by Lo Scarabeo.
In the part called "The Esoteric Path" we find decks like the Etteilla based editions, those related to
Egyptian lore and to the Kabbalah, to the Order of the Golden Dawn and to Crowley's teachings. This part is
followed by the only text contributed by Pietro Alligo, a 12 page long and, again, richly illustrated chapter:
"Waite-Smith: The First Edition". Alligo advocates and presents here a convincing testimony of a printing
sequence different from the publication sequence I put forward in my own book "The Story of the Waite-Smith
Tarot" (2006). In short, Alligo's new discovery is, that the three known early editions of the Waite-Smith
tarot most likely were all printed within a few months at the end of 1909 and beginning of 1910, but that
the decks first printed were not released until several years later. The subject is, however, too complicated
to go into details here; I have written a detailed comment
elsewhere.
With the three following parts: "The Artistic Path", "The Cultural Path" and "The Metaphysical Path", we
come right into the centre of Lo Scarabeo's activities: the decks by well-known artists, the remakes and
reconstructions and a wealth of contemporary works. Not only are numerous finished cards illustrated but
also several of the drafts and sketches that lay ahead.
During their 20 years, Lo Scarabeo published more than a hundred decks, but for each published deck, many
others were considered, but never came to see the light of day. The problem is not the lack of appropriate
concepts to work on but a lack of time to care for even obviously potential ideas. The part called "The
End and the Beginning" gives us a glimpse of decks, which only came partly through the developing phases and
then for various reasons were cancelled or just suspended for a while. Some of them looking quite promising
and yet were given up. The ideas for the decks are generally born, discussed and developed within the
house itself. Hundreds of decks are published by now and Lo Scarabeo's "deck-to-be-done"-files have already
one hundred more potent ideas on hold. Enough for another 20 years, that is!
In "The Creative Path", Lo Scarabeo lays out in the open the creative stages that lead from the very first
idea or concept of a new deck through the manifold procedures to the physical outcome. On this scene there
are several parts to be played, among them the parts of writers, designers, artists, editors and graphic
designers. The writer, also called designer, is the person, who in text form describes in detail the visual
contents of every single card in the deck. This description becomes the basis for the artist's work. Often
several artists who, perhaps should rather be called illustrators, are asked to present their proposals for
a few cards before one is selected, who best matches the expected mood of the deck.
In the same chapter the technique behind Lo Scarabeo's highly cherished gold printed decks, which no other
tarot publisher so far has copied, is also explained.
These last two parts are very informative. I have, for example, learned that an assigned artist does not
necessarily need to know anything about tarot; her/his job is to illustrate the writer's text. When I,
for example, in a review pointed out that cards in the suit of teacups did not depict teacups, it is not the
artist that should be blamed for that, but the writer. The writer is, btw, often responsible for providing
the text for the so called "little white booklets", which is an area that too often does not live up to
Lo Scarabeo's otherwise high standards.
In it's outer form "Twenty Years of Tarot - The Lo Scarabeo Story" is a splendid coffee-table book, but it is
a lot more than that. It is an entertaining picture book and a must for everyone interested in modern
artistic tarots and their creation. By openly presenting the company and the way it works, it takes a
distance to the veil, which tarot publishers all too often have been hiding behind to protect their narrow
economical interests. I am not always positive in reviewing Lo Scarabeo's tarots; many of them have too
much comic book style than I can appreciate, but as a whole, Lo Scarabeo's first 20 years in business
(it is not only a creative environment, but first and foremost a business, of course!) have enriched the
entire tarot scene tremendously.
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"Twenty Years of Tarot -
The Lo Scarabeo Story - 1987-2007"
Publishing House: Lo Scarabeo, 2007
Hardcover, 128 pages with numerous color illustrations
ISBN: 0-7387-1230-7
Dimensions: 325 mm x 240 mm, 9 1/2” x 13”
© K. Frank Jensen 2008
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