Tarots Parisiens / Oracles Planetaires / Sorcier du XIXe Siècle (Viuda de Bouchard-Huzard)

Tarots Parisiens / Oracles Planetaires / Sorcier du XIXe Siècle. Viuda de Bouchard-Huzard, France. Bespoke divinatory deck, 62 double-headed cards + instruction booklet. Size: 56mm x 86mm.

Deck make-up:
The classical planets (each of Sun, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Earth, Moon): 5 to 9 cards, variable.
Extras: title card, querent cards x2, extra card 7.

A divinatory pack from 1867 authored by A Para d'Hermes. The booklet (see further below) seems to indicate this deck was either introduced or showcased at the Paris Exposition world's fair of that year.

Each planet is given a different colour code and is represented by a varying number of cards. The deck is reversible, with different predictions depending on whether the card comes out upright or reversed. You'll have to read the French accompanying booklet (below) if you want to figure out what it all means!

Reproductions of the deck are still available from various small-scale outfits.

Click on any card to explore the design.

(Comments or corrections, please e-mail: Click to see e-mail address.)

Card image size, below: Normal Bigger

Soleil (Sun)

The cards in the Sun group are actually printed in gold.

Saturne (Saturn)

Jupiter

Mars

Vénus (Venus)

Mercure (Mercury)

Terre (Earth)

This group of cards (La Terre/Earth, coloured "dark violet") actually has a mistake which somebody has made a half-hearted attempt to correct. The middle card here is numbered 49 (see top right of card). The next card has its "50" mostly scratched out (seemingly on the original printing plate). The final card here (which should be 51) has no number at all. If you move on to the next group (Lune/Moon, below), the first card is explicitly numbered 51. Oops! Because of this, the whole deck finishes one number less than it should (57 instead of 58).

Lune (Moon)

This group of cards, representing Lune/Moon is also coloured violet (although "pale violet") presumably as it is allied with the Earth, above.

Extras

The logos on the male and female querent cards really are different sizes!
The third card shown above (the pack's title card) is rather confusingly also numbered 1, like the first card in the Sun suit.
The final card seems to be an alternative/extra version of card 7 (see the Sun suit) although with the numbers in the triangles deleted and a different reversed prediction. Since this card mentions a "fête", my guess is it also alludes to the Paris Exposition.