Behold The Lost Tarot

A complete view of the 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot, with two bonus mono cards — this 80-card grid view is also available with “The Spread” perk, as a signed 24” x 38” fine art poster

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• Being a treasury of mysterious providence in the pursuit of arcane knowledge, originating from a chance encounter with the Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci, resulting in The Great Work. 
• The whole splendidly enriched with seventy-eight cards of medieval imagery, including emperors, empresses, kings, queens, knights and their retinues, also a mage, a hierophant, the lovers, and the common folk of feudal England at the time of Henry VIII. 
• Replete with the esteemed images The Fool, Justice, the Queen of Coins, The Star, Death, the Six of Cups, and The World.
• The Great Work created with the cooperation of the good citizens of Nottingham under the direction of the former wool merchant William Bradford. 
• On occasion continuing the work of esteemed calligraphers, vaunted miniaturists, deceased painters and anonymous engravers, but deriving primarily from the mind and eye of the photographer Hansjurgen Bauer.

The elegant tuck box prototype for the deck

Housed in an elegant tuck box, The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition will be printed full color throughout and manufactured entirely in the USA.

Inside the box you will find:

The 78 color cards and 2 bonus mono cards, printed on Royal 330gsm glossy coated card stock, 3″ x 6″, with a beautiful gold backing 

(Note that, no matter the perk, the deck is always one and the same: in each case you get the 78 color cards AND the 2 bonus mono cards.)

A Queen and the gold backing for all the cards of The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition

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While in actuality William Bradford left no written guide suggesting the interpretation of his images and symbols, not that we’re aware of, we are nevertheless offering a complete Companion Guide for our 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot.

The Companion Guide for the complete 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot, offered with “The Companions” perk (and a few others) — also available for purchase solo as “The Found Confidant” single add-on

Once again, as we did for our Major Arcana Limited Edition in 2017, we’ve partnered with Carly Fischer, a Tarot professional and arcane aficionado, to write a complete guide for all 78 cards of The Lost Tarot.

A sample page from the Companion Guide, written by Carly Fischer

The over 100-page soft-back (A5 format, or 5.82″ x 8.26″) will be sprinkled with medieval imagery from artist Hansjurgen Bauer.

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I, Hansjurgen Bauer, have long had an interest in photo-based art. Once, it was my desire to create a portfolio of highly distressed, antiqued photographs depicting well-known historical personages (Attila the Hun, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc), as if they had simply shown up at my door requesting that I make their portrait. For several reasons (the difficulty of finding suitable models and period appropriate costumes), those first attempts were unsatisfactory and, in time, I moved from Los Angeles to a rural Texas town, where I soon forgot about the project.

After several years, during which I sporadically attended a local Renaissance faire, a friend reminded me of the earlier project, and suggested that most of the heavy lifting had already been done by the wonderful characters encountered at the faire, with their fantastic costumes, armor, and period accessories. My friend further suggested I try my hand at a Tarot deck, about which I knew little at the time.

I decided to experiment with a single card, The Fool, and, if pleased with the result, would continue. To my great delight, The Fool far exceeded my expectations.

The Fool, available for purchase as the “The Wandering Fool” add-on, a signed 13” x 27 1/2” fine art print (no borders or text), perfect for framing and superb for showcasing in your home — also offered as a smaller print option with the “Tell Me a Fortune” perk

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Through trial and error I was able to create a 22-card deck of Majors giving the impression of an authentic medieval tarot. Clearly, such vintage decks were already in existence, but mine would be different: The Lost Tarot would consist entirely of photographs, the idea being they were created with a crude prototype box camera (a camera obscura) nearly three and a half centuries before the actual invention of the first cameras in 1839.

In 2017, I released the 22 images of the Major Arcana + the 4 aces of the Minor Arcana first, in order to sample the public’s appetite for my creation.

The 22 Major Arcana cards for the 2017 Lost Tarot Limited Edition — also available for purchase as the “Major Deal” add-on, as a signed 40” x 27” fine art print

The final shipped product for the 2017 Limited Edition – the few remaining Major Arcana decks being offered with the “Two of Cups” perk or “A Perfect World” perk.

Continuing my experiment, one card led to another, until several years and thousands of hours later, I had created the 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot.

The 22 Majors of The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition

The Coins Suit

The Cups Suit

The Swords Suit

The Wands Suit

Play for a look at both Swords and Cups Suits from The Lost Tarot

Here is a closer look at some of the cards for the 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot:

The World, available for purchase as the “World Beauty” add-on, a signed 13” x 27 1/2” fine art print (no borders or text), perfect for framing and superb for showcasing in your home — also offered as a smaller print option with the “Tell Me a Fortune” perk

Justice, available for purchase as the “Glorious Justice” add-on, a signed 13” x 27 1/2” fine art print (no borders or text), perfect for framing and superb for showcasing in your home — also offered as a smaller print option with the “Tell Me a Fortune” perk

The majority of the primary elements were photographed over the course of several years. A handful of images were staged and photographed at my home studio and surrounding areas. Some costumes, accessories, and armor for these images were created and shipped from distant lands.

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Back in 2017 I decided to take the project a step further by creating a fictitious historical background explaining how The Lost Tarot came into existence, the deck being the brainchild of an English wool merchant, William Bradford, whose chance encounter with Leonardo da Vinci on the Continent resulted in the purchase of a design for an optical device (the first camera), leading to the making of the first known photographs, i.e., The Lost Tarot, how in 1994 the deck was discovered buried in a Nottingham farmer’s field, and how the use of digital tools allowed for its restoration.

A game of pretense: the Nottingham farmer’s field where the glass plates for The Lost Tarot were discovered in 1994

A game of pretense: from an original distressed glass plate, discovered in 1994, to the reconstructed version of THE WORLD, five centuries later

Here’s an image of the original Testamentum:

William Bradford’s Testamentum, signed 1555, offered as a 13″ x 19″ print with the “In the Year 1555” perk — also available for purchase as a single add-on

Here is the text for William Bradford’s Testamentum in its entirety:

THE LOST TAROT

A CHRONICLE OF THE CURIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES RELATING TO ITS ORIGINS AND PARTICULARS

From the Journals of the Wool Merchant William Bradford

(b. Feb 28, 1488—d. Dec 13, 1555) Nottingham, England

Testamentum: William Bradford

Let it be known:

So it was that under the wise legislation of Henry the Seventh, a commercial treaty having been struck with the Florentine Republic, under which English merchants undertook to carry every year to Florence sufficient wool to supply all the Italian city states, saving Venice, in the Year of Our Lord 1504, I traveled to Florence for the purpose of delivering much desired Nottingham wool to receive the proper purple dye, in which the Italians much exceeded our English ability.

It was there as a young apprentice to an English trader that I chanced to encounter the esteemed Florentine, Leonardo da Vinci, a polymath of extraordinary vision; painter, sculptor, architect, and anatomist, prone to uncanny technological design and invention; wings for flying, a mechanical knight, a steam cannon, and shoes for walking on water.

Of particular interest to myself, the genius da Vinci envisioned an optical device, a camera obscura, for the capture of sun pictures; a boxlike contraption of wood, and a lens of ground glass, the pictures themselves formed through the application of chemicals on coated glass, the principal being first noted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle; how light passing through a small hole into a darkened room produces an image on the opposite wall.

My master, who held me in some favor, and knew of my desire, purchased for me several of da Vinci’s drawings, the most intriguing being a design for the creation of sun pictures. Having returned to England, I became obsessed with da Vinci’s novelty, and how it might be brought to practical use. To this end, having become a polished gentleman of some considerable means, I employed various tradesmen to fashion different parts of the apparatus: the blacksmith Ulric Baynard for the construction of mechanical parts, Drogo Karolus, a grinder of finely crafted lenses, and Hugh Gaillard, the apothecary, for chemicals and imaging glass, until at last—Eureka!

Beyond the blush of first astonishment, which cannot here be overstated, being a soul of largely pragmatic considerations, myself possessing no skill as a draftsman or painter, but being an appreciator of the arts, I set my mind to how the device might be used in the service of creating a personal vision beyond that of still life, portraiture, and landscape.

Thereafter, I several times set sail for the boot in the sea, and upon occasion bought more drawings. It was during one such trip that I first encountered a new form of entertainment; a game of heavily colored playing cards the Italians called trionfi, or triumphs.

These I acquired by barter for my own amusement, in exchange for Nottingham wool. Upon further study, I understood the game to be a disguise for a powerful set of esoteric images forming a system of divination. From that point, I became consumed by deciphering the cards, and determined to make images for my own tarot.

Working in secrecy, certain that servants of the inquisition at the profane direction of certain members of the Holy Church would view the endeavor as the work of the devil—divination being a pastime of the King of Hell, punishable by torture and death—I enjoined family and trusted members of the good folk of Nottingham to sit for me, and so, the Great Work began.

Well set upon my task, following in the manner of the Italian Tarot in the use of code and symbol, I further sought the aid of the Flemish painter, Franz van Eyck, for the creation, where necessary, of fauna, floral, and varied adornment applied directly to the glass plates.

After eleven years of trial and considerable error, the undertaking was brought to completion.

It was shortly after the completion of the Nottingham Tarot that I learned of the death of the virtuoso, da Vinci, the great man’s spirit having flown, God rest his soul, Amen, in 1519, in France, where he spent his last days, while under the sponsorship of the French monarch, Francis I, although the news did not reach me until many months after the event. Having no wish to lay claim to the remarkable invention without giving due credit to the master, it was my fondest wish that I return to Italy and demonstrate its use, but it was not to be.

During the great epidemic of the sweating sickness in 1528, I hid the opus, leaving instruction with my eldest, Merek, and with my solicitor, in the event of my death. They, however, God rest their souls, preceded me in their ascent to Holy Heaven.

Having several times been visited by member of the clergy, who wished to know about the strange device, I pled innocence and claimed no knowledge of it, attributing the rumor of its existence to a rival businessman who wished to cause me grief and usurp my share of trade.

Now, myself gravely ill and approaching imminent death, in the spirit of the enigmatic undertaking that has consumed me these two and fifty years, I make my final entry: regarding the fruit of my labor and blessed vision born under the direction of the Mage da Vinci, and wishing dearly that it not be lost forever, the treasure trove lies buried somewhere in Dear England. May they who discovers its whereabouts do with it as they will.

By me—William Bradford.

April 22 in the Year of Our Lord 1555

William Bradford, circa 1555, included as a bonus card with the 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot

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The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition INDIEGOGO Flexible Funding Campaign has no time deadline and no set monetary goal.

Enough funds have been raised on Kickstarter for all manufacturing costs dedicated toward the printing of the 1,000 decks, tuck box, Companion Guide, as well as all Kickstarter rewards.

Due to the great post-Kickstarter demand for The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition and its Companion Guide book, we now need your support in order to be able to print additional decks and guides, and of course, more gorgeous perks and add-ons.

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All in due time, but for now we need your assistance in bringing more fundings for the full 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot.

Our original Kickstarter campaign having successfully funded, production for The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition will begin mid October 2021

Shipping for The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition will begin February 22, 2022

All other perks and add-ons items will ship with the deck.

The Star, available for purchase as the “Be a Star” add-on, an elegant custom-made silk scarf, pleasantly lightweight for the perfect year-round accessory

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While the complete set of cards for The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition is finished, we need your help in raising more funds to print additional decks and companion guides.

Every level of participation brings its own reward, and every perks (save for “Tell Me a Fortune” and “In the Year 155”) gets you one or more Lost Tarot decks!

Here is a look at some of our rewards offered across the 15 perks:

“Tell Me a Fortune” perk with The Fool (or The Hermit, Justice, The World, or the 7-card fan spread shown below), 11″ x 14″, printed on extra thick card stock, ideal for propping upright in a different room every day (no framing necessary)

The 7-card fan spread, offered as a print option with the “Tell Me a Fortune” perk

The 7-card fan spread, offered as a print option with the “Tell Me a Fortune” perk

“The Silky 78″ perk includes this elegant 36″ x 36” silk scarf, showing the complete 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot — also available for purchase as “The Elegant Tarot” single add-on

A closer look at “The Elegant Tarot” scarf add-on, also included in “The Silky 78” perk

“A Perfect World” perk includes this genuine leather purple pouch, custom-made to fit and take on the go your 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot — also available for purchase as “The Serious Practitioner” add-on with all other perks

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What’s an INDIEGOGO campaign without add-ons!

Most of our Lost Tarot items shown in this campaign are available as single add-ons, at checkout, after pledging for any of the perks. Once you select a perk, you will be able to add some of these lovely products to your order.

Here is a look at some of the add-ons items offered in our campaign, including some INDIEGOGO-ONLY exclusive note cards:

The “Notes of Tarot” Add-on, four images (four cards of each) for THE FOOL, THE HERMIT, THE WORLD and THE KNIGHT OF CUPS, 5″ x 7 “, with envelopes and a gold band around each set of 16.

This is an exclusive INDIEGOGO Add-on and only 25 of these sets are available, for $20 each.

The “Bag it!” add-on, a genuine leather pouch (full calfskin), custom-made to fit your 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot

The “Many Readings” add-on, an elegant tablecloth, 29″ x 29″ for your many Lost Tarot readings, also offered in a few perks

A look at three separate add-ons: “Spread Justice,” “Be a Star” and “The World is Yours”, each an elegant real silk scarf, 36″ x 36″ pleasantly lightweight for the perfect year-round accessory

“The Hermit’s Secret” add-on, a signed, sepia toned, 24” x 24” circular fine art print of The Hermit (2017 version), suitable for framing and printed on glorious archival metallic pearl paper

The “Major Deal” add-on, a signed 40” x 27” fine art print of the original 2017 Major Arcana, printed on archival metallic pearl paper, suitable for attaching to a foam board for standing upright or framing, as shown below (frame not included)

The “Glorious Justice” add-on, a magnificent 13” x 27 1/2” signed fine art print of Justice, printed on archival metallic pearl paper, perfect for framing (frame not included)

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What is a Testamentum?

A Testamentum is simply an Old English word borrowing from the Latin for testament, a legal term meaning to “testify” or “witness.”

Is William Bradford’s Testamentum real?

No, the Testamentum is a fiction, a “game of pretense” created for the purpose of supplementing The Lost Tarot in an attractive fictional way.

Do the cards in the original 2017 Major Arcana differ from those in The Lost Tarot 202178-Card Edition?

For The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition, seven cards in the Majors have been changed from the original, and several more have been slightly altered. As such, we view each Lost Tarot as a separate, stand alone project.

One of the new Major cards for the 78-Card Edition of The Lost Tarot

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“I know nothing about Hans Bauer, but just from handling this deck, I can tell you his brain works in impressive, wondrous ways. There is an astuteness to his creativity, and an exacting method to his stream of imagination.” — Benebell Wen, author of Holistic Tarot (2015) and The Tao of Craft (2016) — benebellwen.com

“The Sgt. Pepper of tarot decks.” — Anonymous

“I’ve been collecting Tarot decks for about thirty years – I’ve probably given away more sets of Tarot cards than most people own in a lifetime – and every once in a while I run across one that really makes me stop and say, “Wow. This is COOL.” Hans Bauer’s Lost Tarot is one of those decks. The Lost Tarot is definitely what I’d consider an “art deck.” It would look great as a collectible or conversation piece because Hans Bauer has crafted some incredibly lovely imagery with a unique style… but it’s so much more than that. It’s also highly readable, which for me is the litmus test of whether or not I will use a deck more than once. It’s a beautiful deck, feels good in your hands, and the imagery is inviting and stylish. I totally give The Lost Tarot 9/10 broomsticks!” — Patti Wigington, author of That Falconer Woman — pattiwigington.com

The 2017 Lost Tarot Major Arcana Limited Edition, offered with the “Two of Cups” perk and “A Perfect World” perk.

“I would recommend this deck if you are really into world creation, the medieval period, renaissance fairs, and falling into the fictitious myth surrounding the deck’s creation.” — Ariel, Certified Psychic Medium, Tarot Reader, Reiki Master Teacher (RMT), and Certified Crystal Healer (CCH) — mavenunmasked.com

“Oh, I am so in love! The deck is a gem, and the brains behind it a sensitive soul and true gentleman! Thank you so much, Mr. Bauer, I feel very proud and happy to have this little gem of a Tarot.” — Andrea Marques, Etsy buyer

“Outstanding. Just beautiful! The art work is just breathtaking. Wonderful eye for the details. Looking forward to the rest of the deck.” — Keith Taylor, Etsy buyer

“There are hundreds of different Tarot decks from which to choose, each with its own energy, mythology, symbolism and artwork. But few can compare to the lush beauty of The Lost Tarot, a collection created by photo-based artist Hans Bauer. Each card in the deck is a masterful work of art — full-color lush and poetic imagery that draws from the energy that is its creator. Art aficionados who are familiar with Bauer’s work —always dreamlike and lyrical with a soupçon of the mystic — will be suitably impressed with his latest project, which is gallery worthy by any standard. Even those who place no stock in the Tarot is a tool of divination will appreciate the sheer beauty of this deck. But for those who are believers, The Lost Tarot is a breathtakingly beautiful conduit to lift the veil and unlock the sixth sense.” — Donna Gable Hatch, a writer-editor-collage artist, Outer Banks, North Carolina

“As a professor of mythology and creative writing who reads and collects the Tarot, I am always excited to see the arrival of a new deck. With The Lost Tarot, photo-based artist, Hans Bauer, creates a dazzling palette of medieval imagery, while preserving the universal symbols of each card, enriching both my personal and academic life.” — Kathleen Ann Hudson, Phd, Schreiner University

The “Fortitude” special reward, an 11″ x 14″ print only offered with the $450.00 “Wolf Pack” perk

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The following people are involved bringing The Lost Tarot project to life:

Hansjurgen Bauer (creator/author/fine art photographer) is also a screenwriter (Anaconda, Titan A.E., among others), novelist (Anaconda: The Writer’s Cut, Fishtale, and more) and creator of photo-based art. He lives in Texas and strives to create images that transport the viewer to landscapes of magical realism.

Laurent Daubas (project manager) is a graphic designer, and head honcho for all things Lost Tarot. As an art lover and friend of artist Hansjurgen Bauer, he designed this campaign, the Testamentum, and created all logos, graphics, packaging and videos for both Lost Tarot projects. He lives in New Hampshire.

Miriam King (contributor) has been an art director & graphic designer for over 30 years; she helped finalize all 80 Lost Tarot cards for their pre-press output needs, co-designed the Companion Guide and presently shares her life with artist Hansjurgen Bauer in Texas where she devotes her time to her fine art painting.

Carly Fischer (writer) is a Tarot professional and owner of Sound Sight Tarot in Austin, Texas, where she lives. Author of the 2017 Lost Tarot Interpretation Guide, and the new 2021 Lost Tarot Companion Guide, she seeks to enrich your life through art, symbolism, and positive thinking to support you in creating a future you want to experience.

The Hermit (2021 version), available for purchase as the “Mysterious Hermit” add-on, a signed 13” x 27 1/2” fine art print (no borders or text), perfect for framing and superb for showcasing in your home — also offered as a smaller print option with the “Tell Me a Fortune” perk

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Impact and Environmental commitments

Reusability and recyclability

All paper-waste produced at our printer’s facility in Florida is provided to a paper recycling company; they do not throw any of it away.  Carton stocks used for our tuck box packaging are recyclable.

Sustainable materials

Our printer’s facility in Florida uses toner rather than ink, which makes it an eco-friendlier option.  Additionally our Lost Tarot cards will not use plastic coating. The coating is water-based.

Environmentally friendly factories

Our Florida Printer’s products are environmentally safety-certifiable, meaning our tarot cards will pass the standard testing that is sometimes required by different companies to provide the product as an eco-friendly item. (Please note, the actual certification is on a final-product basis so we cannot say that it is already certified. We would need to have testing done on the finished decks.)

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Risks & Challenges

The Lost Tarot 78-Card Edition is now complete and ready to be printed, the custom-made tuck boxes ready to be manufactured. Test printings for the cards have already been carried out and a printer decided upon, so there should be no issues or challenges in the manufacturing of the decks.

As we do not have a final sample on hand, please note that the style of the tuck box and Companion Guide may slightly vary from the mockups presented in the campaign.

For the production of all perks and add-ons, sufficient time has been left until the shipping date of February 22, 2022, so here too deadlines should not be missed. If any issues arise, they will be made public in our campaign updates and adjustments made to the dates of delivery.

We hope you will help us make this Lost Tarot campaign a success!

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Other Ways You Can Help

Some of you maybe just not be able to contribute, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help:

• Get the word out and make some noise about The Lost Tarot campaign.
• Use the Indiegogo share tools!