5. Summary and Appendix

The dating of the Bologna cartomancy document was discussed, and no reason found not to assume that it is from the same period, 1760-1782, as the other documents accompanying them, all Italian but with some connection to Freemasonry.

The list of meanings on the sheet was compared with Etteilla's published meanings, both for the special cards associated with the tarot, published in 1783, and with those for the ordinary suit cards in 1770, following the correspondences Spade = Piques, Coppe = Coeurs, Bastoni = Carreaux, and Denari = Trefles, the correspondences to the tarot were no different from what would be expected by chance and what was suggested on the cards themselves. For the suit cards, however, the result was different.  Allowing both for some embellishment when translating into Italian and adjustment for how the court figures look on Bolognese vs. French cards, a correspondence of 13 out of 17 cards was found. Another Etteilla document was also compared to the Bolognese list, this one said by its 1797/1802 editor to date from 1771. In this case 16 out of 17 meanings were confirmed, several in a stronger way, with some vague relationship in the case of the 17th, i.e. about a 95% correlation, although in many cases not with the same card in the two sets.

Moreover, the 1797/1802 editor had been in Northeastern Italy, specifically Trieste and probably Venice, in the period 1772 to 1780, as part of the French diplomatic corps with his father. Since the editor, Jacques Saint-Sauveur, had secured Etteilla's permission to distribute the pamphlet a short time before, its circulation in Northeastern Italy is the likeliest explanation for the correspondences on the list. However in the period just prior to 1770, another French nobleman who later wrote on cartomancy was ambassador to Venice. So it is still not clear in which direction the influence went, from Bologna to Paris or vice versa. It is possible that more clarity could be attained through a re-exmination of the 1760-1782 documents for possible connections to members of diplomatic circles in Venice, Trieste, or elsewhere.

Appendix: 1757/1771 Etteilla cartomantic meaning vs. Italian meanings on the 18th century sheet and as written on three later decks of cards, the first from c. 1800-1825, the second from c. 1850-1875, and the third from 1920 (all four taken from Andrea Vitali and Terry Zanetti, pp. 80-81).

1757/1771 meanings, as they appear in the 1802 Le Bohémien, p. 51-52 (left, Coeurs, i.e. Hearts) and 56-57 (right, Carreaux, i.e. Diamonds)
 

Italian cartomancy meanings  Bologna 1760-1782 (with 1800-1825, 1850-1875, and 1920 in parentheses)

Coppe/Cups

Re: Un vecchio (Un coppo; Galantuomo P., Uomo)

Regina: Donna maritata (Una coppina; Donna di garbo, Regina di coppe)

Fantesca: La donna (Una Coppina, Giovinetta, Uomo)

Asso: La casa (Letto, Casa propria, Martello della porta)

Dieci: Coppe della casa (Allegrezza, Allegrezze, che fiorisce)

           

Bastoni/Batons

Re: Un signore non ammogliato (Regina, Lui, Uomo gi[ovane])

Regina: P[utta]na (Bastone in persona/in vita; Lei, Donna)

Fante: Pensiero della Donna (Bastone in pensiero, Suo pensiero, Uomo)

Asso: Baronate (Baronate, Fa baronate, Matrimonio)           

Dieci ---- (assente nei primi due, Viaggio )

Extracts from Le Bohémien, pp. 52-53 (left) and 59-60 (right), for Clubs (Trefles, left) and  Spades (Piques, right)

Italian cartomancy meanings  Bologna 1760-1782 (with 1800-1825, 1850-1875, and 1920 in parentheses)

Denari/Coins

Re: L’Uomo (Buonanuova, Galantuomo, Re di denari)       

Regina: Verità (Di verità conferma, Lettera, Regina di Denari)

Fantesca: Signorina (Biglietto, Chiacchiere, Uomo)

Asso: Tavola (In tempo di tavola, In tempo di tavola, Fuori di tavola)        

Dieci: Denari (Denari, ----, Lacrime)

Spade/Swords

Re: Malalingua (Spadino, Giovinetto, Re di Spada)

Regina: --- (Afflizione, Donna triste, Regina di Spade)

Fante: --- (Ambasciata, ----, Mala lingua)

Asso: Lettera (alla porta, Martello della porta/Martello, Carta Scritta)