De Laurence RWS decks.

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 13 Dec 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Le_Corsair	13 Dec 2003
I don't know more about these decks than I have seen on Holly Voley's website. Two De Laurence decks recently came up on Ebay, both of them sold for over $350.00 USD. Are these decks so uncommon, then? They utilize color schemes that are, to my eyes, lovely; especially the "yellow" scheme. Does anyone out there have a De Laurence RWS deck? What are your thoughts on it? Bob :THERM

Sulis	13 Dec 2003
Here's a link Love and light Sulis xx

Gerbear	13 Dec 2003
We have a new member, who will be posting soon, who has all three of those decks. She will be able to more fully answer you. Her name is Kimber. I have them high on my want list, but failed in the recent auctions. The yellow is from 1916. the orange is from 1960 and the red is from 1980. All of them are rare and very much sought after.

Cerulean	13 Dec 2003
And if you list DeLaurence, all three versions come up, with pictures. The yellow version looked really nice to me, the blue second. Abebooks.com lists the Pictorial Key to the Tarot under DeLaurence and while I didn't buy one, some of the books sometimes have colored illustrations. I saw one at a used bookstore without color, ugly and not worth ten dollars. But you can see some books with descriptions, I think one was listed with partial yellow colors...I think the book edition roughly might match the DeLaurence cards, so it might be a way to collect them for under triple digits. As a comparison, some book title editions of American or English writers say circa 1900 to 1920, some titles you can get for under ten dollars, even if they have tooled leather engravings and beautiful typeset samples. Or the fairy tale authors with illustrators such as Edmund Dulac or Arthur Rackham, the titles can range from twenty to more dollars...but put tarot or occult in the title, and wham, it seems 'specialty' and just the thing to run up to triple digits. Hope people are finding good deals. Mari H.

Le_Corsair	13 Dec 2003
I think it's time I bought copies of Stu Kaplan's Encyclopedias, it's obvious that there's still a lot for me to learn about uncommon and obscure decks! :laugh: Bob :THERM

Gerbear	13 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Mari_Hoshizaki And if you list DeLaurence, all three versions come up, with pictures. The yellow version looked really nice to me, the blue second. Mari, is there a blue version too? I'm just aware of the yellow, orange, and red.

Cerulean	14 Dec 2003
Old listing on Ebay: *RARE*DeLaurence Tarot 1960 Rider Waite Clone DeLaurence Tarot By Arthur Edward Waite & Pamela Coleman-Smith 78 Cards, Published in Chicago, Illinois in 1960 Out Of Print The Rider-Waite Clone reprinted by the DeLaurence Company of Chicago. This deck was reproduced in 3 colors orange, blue, and light grey. This is a great way to look at the 'Rider-Waite Tarot' is very simple but pleasant. The DeLaurence Company made 3 different renditions of the deck the first in Yellow 1916-1918, Orange 1960, and Red 1980. This deck is in good condition although there is a little discoloration, being 43 years old it has held pretty well. It does not look as though it was used very often if at all. The box is in bad shape the top and bottom flaps are missing but it is still with the deck which is always a plus. ------------------------------------------ The inking on the picture had looked blue to me, so I said blue. The color tones though are the 'orange', although in the ebay picture it looked softer and more pleasant. Mari H.

dolphingirl	14 Dec 2003
I have the DeLaurence yellow version which I love dealy but it is missing 4 cards :( (got it that way) If anyone has this deck and would be willing to scan those cards in for me so I could print out replacement cards and use the deck I would be your everlasting slave :p If you can please PM me!!!!!! Happly Holidays Samantha

Kimber	17 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Gerbear We have a new member, who will be posting soon, who has all three of those decks. She will be able to more fully answer you. Her name is Kimber. I have them high on my want list, but failed in the recent auctions. The yellow is from 1916. the orange is from 1960 and the red is from 1980. All of them are rare and very much sought after. Thanks for the intro, Gerbear! Of the three versions, the yellow (my most recently acquired, and at a price which made my husband's heart stop when he saw the Paypal invoice! ) (We're in therapy now, but that's another story ) is the cleanest plagiarization. I believe the yellow version was made from an, ahem, "borrowed" set of RWS plates. The orange version (1960) is still pretty clear, but by 1980 (red version), the quality was totally gone (a copy of a copy of a copy). I have two of the red versions, and both are blotchy and ugly. It was difficult to tell the difference between the orange and red versions online, and since they were all issued in the same nondescript box, that was hardly helpful. Even the yellow, which is the cleanest, has a large black ink blot on the Fool card...not sure if this is indicative of the entire print run, or if I just got an ooky one. Interestingly, the yellow version I have has the orangey "lattice" back of the 1960 version, with the rounded corners of the later versions. Holly has a white backed, square-cornered version, and she has a copy of an advertisement from circa 1900's that offers the deck in both "rounded" and "square" corners. I believe that Holly's copy, with the white back and square corners, is one of the very earliest editions. Holly Voley, a good friend and fellow obsessionist, does have scans of all three "Fools" from the various editions posted on her site.

Kimber	17 Dec 2003
[quote]Originally posted by dolphingirl [b]I have the DeLaurence yellow version which I love dealy but it is missing 4 cards :( (got it that way) If anyone has this deck and would be willing to scan those cards in for me so I could print out replacement cards and use the deck I would be your everlasting slave :p If you can please PM me!!!!!! Hi Samantha, I can scan them for you. Which cards do you need? I think "PM" means "privately mail", but being relatively new on the forum, I'm not sure how to locate your e-mail addy. My apologies! Here's mine: kimber@plaiddragon.com.

The De Laurence RWS decks. thread was originally posted on 13 Dec 2003 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.