A History of Games Played with the Tarot Pack: The Game of Triumphs

Probably the best book about tarot. Very expensive, so only for the hardcore tarot fans. You can find the most interesting games in the book on John McLeod's excellent site www.pagat.com.

Enthusiastic.

In 1980 Michael Dummett published The Game of Tarot, an extensive work of history that can be divided into three parts: one giving a broad history of the cards and designs themselves, the second, a history of the occult beliefs that developed around them later in their history, and the third, a history and development of the games. The second two parts were both later expanded in two volume sets of which this is one.

Sadly, the publisher of this set of volumes is The Edwin Mellen Press, an academic publisher with a poor distribution and high prices. These are no longer listed to purchase new at Amazon, though they are still listed on the publisher's website for purchase directly from them - however, the price of these in Stirling as doubled since I bought them and the two volumes will now set you back about £300.

It is an extraordinary work of history, tracing the development of the games and giving full rules where possible. The two volumes are split according to two traditions based on how The Fool is used. The first volume contains the family of games which use The Fool as an excuse, while the second contains though which use it as the highest trump.

While many contemporary tarot games can be found on John McLeod's Pagat website, this book remains the more complete resource and is the only place you will find many of the historic games. I would consider it essential reading for any enthusiast or historian of card games but we do need something more accessible for a broader audience.