Michael Hobdell.
Rigel Press, Ltd., London, Great Britain.
1970.
Cards.
This pack is #242 of 500 limited edition copies of the original issue of The Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot published by Rigel Press. The 78 cards are edged in gold/gilt. The Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot was conceived by Roland Berrill, founder of Mensa, in the late 1950's. Berrill commissioned the artist Michael Hobdell to do the artwork for this tarot. Hobdell died soon after completing the work. Berrill commissioned a limited and numbered print run of the deck (500 decks) but died before having time to market the deck. These lay dormant until 1970 when Rigel Press, Ltd. marketed the deck. In 1975 U. S. Games official reproduced the Royal Fez Moroccan Tarot pack based on Hobdell's original designs and tones. This tarot pack is, however, #242 of the limited to 500 original pack published and marketed by Rigel Press in 1970. Extremely rare and hard to find. I have only found one other example of this deck for sale recently and would make an important addition to almost every collection. The pack includes 78 gilt edged tarot cards and one card containing printed brief interpretations of the 1-10 cards of each suit of the minor arcana, 120 x 70mm. The cards are in near fine condition and the original blue box with green label (hand numbered in ink)shows very minimal age/shelf wear. Reference: Encyclopedia of Tarot, Stuart R. Kaplan, 274-5. Berrill believed that the tarot was created by 12th century secret societies that existed in Fez, Morocco (thus the deck name). Berrill's deck is an attempt to recreate this Moroccan tarot. He does this mostly through the background images which seem to represent the Moroccan landscape. It is one of only a few early twentieth century tarots.