Encyclopedia of Tarot

poivre

I bought all four volumes just because! LOL

Looked through them for fun and then put them on
the shelf. Just something I HAD to have.

Oh well. :(
 

Mabuse

whipsilk said:
That would be indices, although I suspect indexes is acceptable.

I've looked at the Tarot Encyclopedia on a number of occasions, thinking it might be nice to have, but always come back to one thing -- why spring for these expensive books when a similar, much cheaper and more dynamic resource already exists? I'm talking, of course, about Aeclectic Tarot. What could the encylopedias offer that AE doesn't? And do the encylopedias have high quality color images of all the cards? And do they have reviews by a variety of experts that not only give their opinion but describe a number of aspects of the deck as well?

Aeclectic Tarot has completely satisfied my need for an excellent reference. And now AE is participating in creation of the Tarotpedia, a real, and currently free, encylopedia with all the cross-referencing you could possibly want.
I think you may have pinned the tail on the donkey! The internet may have made these books less useful if not entirely obsolete. Upon recently purchasing 2nd had copies of Vols I & II, I am somewhat dissapointed in the organisation of the material. There should have been, in may opinion, more information content. Some of those b&w illustrations of slight variations of the TdM I did not feel were necessary. The material on the Visconti-Sforza was excellent, though.
 

jmd

Just goes to show our varying preferences... volume II, because of those 'slight' (but significant) variations in the various Marseille-type decks, remains my personal preferred volume.
 

VGimlet

I finally broke down and got these books, after having them on my wish list for years. :D

We actually had volumes 1-3 in the library (I think a few got stolen) so I was familiar with them, and knew I wanted to buy them all at some point.

I came into a little extra money this month so one of the things I splurged on was this set. Perhaps Aeclectic and the 'net have a lot more resources - but I just love resource books.

(talk about reviving an old thread, lol)
 

HearthCricket

They are fanastic, aren't they? You will find yourself enabled into buying more decks, though, as you browse through the pages! What I find interesting is seeing beloved and well used deck in black and white and how different it is, as well as certain objects being more noticeable than on the coloured deck. Things you never noticed suddenly catch your eye.

Anyone know if a book 5 is in the making or when it might be released? There have been so many decks coming out since book 4.
 

gregory

Someone here posted that their deck was to be included in Vol 5 - by which I assume....

I find them useful in ways that AT isn't - just because you can instantly flip from one page to another and compare - even with broadband, you cannot get the same effect. Books do have uses that the internet cannot match. Always will, IMHO.

Incidentally - quite a few of the allegedly unpublished decks have since been published - a couple already had been when Vol. 4 came out ! Adflatus, aka Revelations, to name but one.
 

rwcarter

I also own all four volumes. My biggest complaint is that there's no master index. More than once I've wanted to look up a particular deck and had to look through more than one volume before I could find it. Also some decks are indexed by author/artist and some are indexed by name. (I think most are also indexed both ways.)

I started to create a master index by going through each page of each book in conjunction with using the index in the back of the book and only got partway through volume 2 before I lost interest. (With all the things I want to do, I REALLY need to figure out a way to create 3 or 4 mind-linked clones so we could all be doing different things, yet get the benefits of the other's work.)

A fifth volume? Oh my....:bugeyed:

Rodney
 

Lewen

I have all four volumes and they sit on my bookshelf. I rarely look at them, but I have them in case I need them. They're good for pressing flowers when I'm not reading from them! :)

Good to hear that a #5 might be in the works. I'll add that to the shelf too.

I do leaf through them from time to time, I just felt I needed them for my book collection. I'd rather have it when I need it then need it and not have it!
 

Debra

I've got Volume II and I use it to discourage the cats off the kitchen counter. I'd rather come here for info, and to the other links.
 

le pendu

I have 1-3.

Volume 1 and 2 are often on my desk as I search through images looking for details. These books are indispensable for studying tarot history.. even if just for the images alone.

I love them.