A fascinating vintage French manual on the art of divination by cards and tarot, written by the elusive Madame Zézina and published by Éditions Bornemann, Paris.
Divided into two parts, it teaches both the reading of ordinary playing cards (32, 36, and 52-card methods) and tarot divination, revealing the foundations of cartomantic symbolism in mid-20th-century France.

A true collector’s piece from the “Bibliothèque Universelle” series, this edition captures the aesthetics of early popular esotericism.

🔹 Author: Mme Zézina
🔹 Publisher: Éditions Bornemann, Paris (c.1970)
🔹 Pages: 201 pp in FRENCH
🔹 Size: 18 × 13.5 cm
🔹 Weight: 300 g
🔹 Condition: Acceptable vintage condition — aged cover, light stains, binding solid

🪶 Collector’s Note

Printed in the golden age of Parisian occult publishing, La Cartomancie by Mme Zézina is a charming relic of practical fortune-telling tradition.
A must for collectors of French cartomancy manuals, tarot history, or Bornemann editions, rarely found complete and intact.

Le Nouvel Art de Tirer les Cartes (The New Art of Drawing Cards) is a rare vintage book on cartomancy, published in 1946 by Guy Le Prat in Paris. This fascinating manual explores the tradition of fortune-telling with playing cards, offering interpretations, methods, and symbolic insights.

🔹 Author/Editor: Guy Le Prat
🔹 Year: 1946 (4th quarter legal deposit)
🔹 Publisher: Guy Le Prat, Paris
🔹 Pages: 233 pages, with black and white illustrations in the text
🔹 Size: 18 × 12 cm
🔹 Language: French
🔹 Condition: Good condition for its age (cover worn, spine satisfactory, interior clean – see photos)

⚠️ This book is entirely in French.
A rare and out-of-print work, perfect for collectors of vintage occult, cartomancy, and esoteric wisdom.

A fascinating mix of political commentary, humor, and collectible card art.

🔹 Published: Éditions Arts et Lettres, Nancy
🔹 Year: 1970s (exactly mid-1970s, during Giscard’s presidency)
🔹 Format: Softcover, large in-folio, approx. 56 pre-cut cards + satirical texts
🔹 Condition: Good vintage copy, some signs of wear as shown
🔹 1 UNIT ONLY!

Le Jeu de la Ve République (The Game of the Fifth Republic), illustrated by the brilliant satirical artist Pino Zac with texts by Dominique Durand, is a biting political parody first published by Éditions Arts et Lettres (Nancy, 1970s).

This unusual work was cleverly designed as a book of pre-cut playing cards. Even the cover could be cut out and folded into a box for the deck, allowing readers to literally assemble their own satirical card game. The idea came from the need to bypass potential censorship: while a card deck could easily be seized or banned, censoring a printed book in France was far more difficult.

The deck ridicules the main figures of French politics during the Fifth Republic: De Gaulle, Mitterrand, Chirac, Marchais, Séguy, and of course Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, caricatured as the Ace of Spades—a visual pun, since in French slang the "as de pique" means… “asshole.”

With its sharp caricatures, bold humor, and irreverent spirit, this book is both a collector’s piece of political satire and a testimony to French press freedom during the 1970s. A rare and subversive treasure for lovers of history, politics, and graphic satire.

The best-known “fantasies” with playing cards are the famous Transformation Cards. These ingenious creations integrate the standard suit symbols into imaginative illustrations, a pastime that became popular about 200 years ago and a true test of artistic skill.

This lot includes:

🔹 Deck 1: Jeu de Cotta – Cartes de Fantaisie (1984, France-Cartes / Grimaud)
Reproduction of the earliest transformation deck first published in 1804.
52 cards + 2 Jokers, standard size, mint condition.
Box in excellent condition, almost like new.

🔹 Deck 2: Jeu Gerente (c.1983, Grimaud / Moncar)
Based on woodcut images designed by Alfred Gerente in the 19th century for stained glass windows.
Back design: Amiens Cathedral labyrinth.
52 cards + 2 Jokers + 1 explanatory card.
Size: 88 × 62 mm, printed on unfinished stock with square corners.
Mint condition, original box excellent.

🔹 Book: Transformation Playing Cards by Albert Field (U.S. Games Systems, 1987)
208 pages, paperback, in English.
An essential reference on the history and artistry of transformation decks.

A rare opportunity to obtain two historical reproduction decks together with the definitive reference book—perfect for collectors of playing cards, historians, and lovers of transformation art.

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A rare and beautifully produced limited-edition book, Raconte-moi les cartes is a playful yet scholarly journey through the world of playing cards, created by French historian Christian Rouleau — one of France’s leading experts on card history and divinatory decks.

Printed in only 300 copies in 2021, each book is hand-signed and individually numbered by the author. AntiqueArcana acquired the last remaining units directly from Mr. Rouleau himself — we currently hold 4 signed & numbered copies, all from his personal reserve.

This large-format illustrated “primer” unfolds as an A-to-Z exploration of playing cards: kings, queens, symbols, legends, historical decks, the origins of suits, cardmakers like Grimaud, and the cultural evolution of card games from the Middle Ages to today.
Beautiful full-page plates showcase treasures from Rouleau’s private collection — one of the finest in France.

🔹 Format: Hardcover book
🔹 Size: approx. 25 × 31 cm (Italian landscape format)
🔹 Pages: 64
🔹 Language: French
🔹 Edition: Limited to 300 copies — each copy signed & numbered
🔹 Condition: Brand-new and pristine (direct from the author)
🔹 Authenticity: One of the final copies available on the market

🪶 Collector’s Note

Signed, numbered copies of Raconte-moi les cartes are exceptionally scarce. With only 300 printed — and most already in private libraries — this edition has quickly become a modern reference for historians, museums, and collectors of rare playing-card literature.

A fascinating vintage volume from 1988: Le Guide des Réussites by Giovanni Sciuto — a rare out-of-print French book dedicated to the art of “réussites” (solitaire/patience games) used both as a pastime and a divinatory method.

Sciuto, well-known for his work in cartomancy, presents 30 original solitaire layouts intended to answer questions related to love, money, health, work, and life decisions. These spreads use ordinary playing cards but apply interpretative methods traditionally used in divination.

A great collectible for lovers of cartomancy, vintage French esoteric books, and classic playing-card divination traditions.

🔹 Details
Author: Giovanni Sciuto
Title: Le Guide des Réussites
Publisher: France Loisirs
Year: 1988
Language: French
Pages: approx. 275
Hardcover edition
Condition: Good vintage condition with light signs of age (see photos)

A rare and out-of-print item — excellent addition to any occult, tarot, or playing-card divination library.

🪶 Collector’s Note

This book has become increasingly hard to find, especially in good condition. Sciuto’s systems combine traditional cartomancy with unique “réussite” layouts, offering a glimpse into French divinatory practices of the late 20th century. A wonderful piece for collectors of vintage esoteric books.