2 different versions of the Elemental Tarot???

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Feb 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

catlin	14 Feb 2002
Some days ago I bought the German edition of the Elemental tarot and when I unwrapped it at home, I nearly dropped death: the pictures on it where completely different from the ones I saw in R. Pollack's "Illustraded Guide to Tarot"! Until now I just knew different clones of the RW but also of the Elemental Tarot? Any ideas about that?

Melvis	14 Feb 2002
Hi! Was the new deck similar to what Ms. Pollack described, or was it a whole other deck? If yours is similar to the one you saw in thebook, it may be that you received a re-issued version of the original deck. There is a review at Tarot Passages about how the new version compares to the original deck: http://www.spiritone.com/~filipas/Masquerade/Reviews/elementl.html Hope this helps! Peace, Melvis

Strange2	14 Feb 2002
I know there have been two English editions of the Elemental Tarot. The first edition (Dolphin Doubleday, 1987) is superior in the cards' color, clarity, and packaging (hardcover book, nice slipcase cover). The newer edition (St. Martin's Press, 1999) has less distinct colors and text, and a softcover book. So perhaps the German version you got was the St. Martin's Press edition? I was fortunate to obtain the original edition by contacting the artists directly (Caroline Smith and John Astrop), through their website at http://www.eltarot.co.uk/ .

catlin	15 Feb 2002
Thanks for trying to help me but the funny thing is that the Elemental tarot I got is not by Carolin Smith but by another guy with an Indian sounding name. He has taken the titles and borders of the Carolin Smith deck but changed the pictures and I wanted the Carolin Smith edition so badly and got now a very modern but pretty different one. My bookseller could not tell me how this could happen because you normally got copyright on tarot decks.

The 2 different versions of the Elemental Tarot??? thread was originally posted on 14 Feb 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.