The collection, formerly known as The game Chamber, was established in 1975 by K. Frank Jensen as a private library and research archive. At that time, there was a rise in interest in the occult and esoteric in Denmark. As in most other European countries, this interest had moved in closed circles throughout most of the 20th century, but in the wake of the sixties, interest in alternative religions and spiritual traditions began to manifest itself again.
Purpose of The Game Chamber
The Game Chambers stated purpose was to collect, preserve, record and document the "mantic tools" (ie, systems of fortune-telling and symbol reading - mainly tarot and fortune-telling cards) that had been produced and used throughout the 20th century, and the goal was to achieve a near complete collection of objects within the area.
In 2012, Roskilde University Library received a donation consisting of a large collection of tarot cards from the 20th century. The collection is unique worldwide, as it is over 95% complete regarding the 20th century.
Focus of the collection
Although the collection's focus is on 20th-century tarot cards and related materials such as esoteric and occult books, it also contains many other rare card decks dating back to the 17th century, as well as other forms of games and game-related items.
Tarot and playing cards can be traced back to before the mid-14th century and relate to the ideas of Kabbalah, astrology, alchemy, the teachings of the Rosary and the psychologist C. G. Jung's theories of archetypes.
Definition from dictionary
Oxford Dictionary of English defines tarot as "Playing cards, traditionally a pack of 78 with five suits, used for fortune-counting and (especially in Europe) in certain games. The suits are typically swords, cups, coins (or pentacles), batons (or wands), and a permanent suit of trumps."
Original purpose of Tarots
The widespread perception that tarot cards is a tool to predict the future has not been the original purpose of the cards, instead, tarot cards were a form of playing cards.
K. Frank Jensen was a well known collector of tarot cards. From 1975 he expanded his private collection to one of the world's most complete collections of tarot related material from the 20th century, after which he donated the collection to Roskilde University Library in 2012.
K. Frank Jensen as author
He published several books on the subject, and his book Tarot is a workbook that gives an overview of the tarot world an can be a great introduction book for the beginner. Jensen also edited and published the magazine Manteia from 1989-97.
K. Frank Jensen passed away in 2016.