Sola Busca - Ancient Enlightened Tarot

The Sola Busca Tarot dates from the late 15th Century in Italy. The original 78 cards were printed from metal engraving plates and then illuminated. In 1934 the Sola-Busca family of Milan gave pictures of the complete deck to the British Museum, but the whereabouts of this family and their deck is no longer known. The Sola Busca is the earliest known deck to include pictorial elements on the numbered suit cards. The major arcana is quite different from the traditional. Each card shows a classical figure from history, usually a warrior. The Fool (Mato) is the only card familiar from modern decks. Tarot researchers have noted similarities between some Sola Busca cards and those of the Rider-Waite. They speculate that artist Pamela Colman Smith drew inspiration from the Sola Busca when creating her designs. There is a separate companion book for this deck called The Sola Busca Tarot. This deck is also known as the Ancient Enlightened Tarot and the Illuminating Ancient Tarots.

Deck

Number of
Cards Size Copyright Card Back Design

78
22 major
56 minor
2 3/8"
x
4 1/2" 1995 [back design]

Deck
Number of Cards	Size	Copyright	Card Back Design
78 22 major 56 minor	2 3/8" x 4 1/2"	1995

Companion Book

Title Author Size Number of
Pages Copyright Cover

Sola Busca
Tarot Sofia
Di Vincenzo 4 5/8"
x
7" 208 1998 [cover]

Companion Book
Title	Author	Size	Number of Pages	Copyright	Cover
Sola Busca Tarot	Sofia Di Vincenzo	4 5/8" x 7"	208	1998

Language of card titles:
Major Arcana = Latin
Minor Arcana = English, French, German, Spanish, Italian

Style of suit cards (2-10): suit symbols with pictorial settings and figures

Also included with deck: title card, instruction cards in five languages

Major Arcana:
Mato, Panfilio, Postumio, Lenpio, Mario, Catulo, Sesto, Deo Tauro,
Nerone, Falco, Venturio, Tulio, Carbone, Catone, Bocho,
Metelo, Olivo, Ipeo, Lentulo, Sabino, Nenbroto, Nabuchodenasor

Suit Names: Wands, Chalices (Cups), Swords, Pentacles

Court Cards: King, Queen, Knight, Knave (Page)

SAMPLE CARD IMAGES:

[King of Wands] [7 of Cups] [Carbone]

Reference -
The Encyclopedia of Tarot: Volume 1 by Stuart Kaplan, pgs. 124, 126-127
Volume 2, pgs. 197, 270, 297-302
Volume 3, pg. 30.