old books

I wonder if anyone could reccomend any older (english language) books about tarot; i'm interested in comparing old interpretations of the cards with contemporary ones. And by old I mean at least 1st half of 20th century, older than that is even better - though I don't know if such things exist.
Thanks,
Persha

The only old tarot texts that I have are centered on the "occult revival"- Elias Levi, Papus (late 19th century), and then the early Golden Dawn stuff a generation later. I don't own any first editions, just reprints from the 1950s and forward.

Laurel

Mary Greer's Tarot Reversals has a card-by-card description with at least three different types of descriptions. Golden Dawn, the older predictive meanings that might have come with different playing card patterns, reversals, etc.

Persha: The Tarot books I have that would qualify as old in terms of original publication dates are:

The Tarot of the Bohemians by Papus, translated from the French by A.P. Morton. It indicates it was first published in 1896. The edition I have is from 1994. (ISBN 1-85958-065-3)

The Tarot by Joseph Maxwell (1858-1938 ), translated from the French by Ivor Powell. There is no information as to its original French publication, but its first publication in the English translation was in 1975. My copy is a May 1992 reprint of an October 1988 edition (British). (ISBN 0-85207-206-8 )

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by Arthur Edward Waite. Originally published 1910. American edition 1980.

(I give up--cannot change the smoking emoticons to "8".)

*Edited by moderator to remove the Smoking Smilies*

MeeWah, Maxwell's book was originally published in French in 1933.

As for the '8)' emoticons, simply click the 'Disable smilies in this post' at the bottom of the posting options before submitting the post.

The Oswald Wirth book may be also of interest for you but I don't know if it is translated in English. The original was written in French and there is a German translation out.

JMD: Thanks for the additional information on Maxwell's book & for the tip on the emoticons.

I find it curious that I cannot find any information on Maxwell outside of his book though copies are available via Amazon & via Barnes&Noble.

while eden gray's tarot books aren't ancient, i don't know if they are still in print. they've been around longer than some AT members have been alive so i'm adding this one. i think they came out in either the '60's or '70's when i was first learning tarot and knew no other books out there. i think one is called "the tarot revealed". in another thread someone said that this was not a good book. i beg to differ b/c when i was a teenager trying to learn tarot it was a god send! in comparison to books out today it isn't that great but it will always have a soft spot in my heart.

catlin said:

The Oswald Wirth book may be also of interest for you but I don't know if it is translated in English. The original was written in French and there is a German translation out.

Click to expand...

Oswald Wirth book has been translated into English. It's called:
'The Tarot of the Magician'
You can buy it used over the internet .

Blessings,
*Mareike*

Eden Gray

I really like the way Eden Gray writes, it's easy to follow. The first book on tarot I got was an Eden Gray, mastering the tarot (copyright 1969) A very good one Imo. A friend that owns one of the shops near me said she knew Eden Gray, and that she taught a tarot class once at her shop. I would have loved to attend that class. My friend said she must be in her 90's if she is still with us. I have seen 3 of her books reprinted and still available.