An other way to compare the "Crackled Backs" Pamela decks

coredil

An other way to compare the "Crackled Back" Pamela decks

Some times ago I had the luck to get (not very expensive) a copy of a "Crackled Back" Pamela deck.
Thanks to insider informations from a nice ATF member it seems as if it is a Pamela D.

For those who do not know this name "Crackled Back", this is the usual pattern one can find on the cardback of the early Pamela decks. They are also called Pamela A, B, C or D according to Mr Jenssen research.
Picture of this "Crackled Back" can be seen on Holly Voleys Site:
http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/images/LargeImages/eBayBackLge.JPG

Trying to compare the several available sources I noticed one thing that seems not to be mentioned:
On several cards one can find some illustrations that do not have any line drawings: these are mostly flowers or stains on a piece of clothes.
These flowers or stains are not part of the black and white original line drawings and are probably drawn and added by the printers during the coloring process.
The most evident examples of these illustrations are
The red-orange stars/flowers on the Fool
5 of wands: the blue stains on the white tunic of the man in the front
6 of cups: Stains on the neckerchief of the girl
3 of pentacles: the stains or flowers on the coat of the person on the right
5 of pentacles: the stains on the coat of the woman
9 of pentacles: the flowers on the coat
Also the white rays surrounding the hand of the Ace of pentacles

One interesting thing with these particular illustrations is that, depending on the printing or edition, they are different, some times very very different.

To illustrate this I attach a picture with 4 scans of the 9 of pentacles.
Unfortunately I do not have access to a lot of "Crackled Back" decks ;)
So there are scans of two "Crackled Back" decks and scans of two more common RWS.
The first one is from the scan of a Pamela A that one can find on the Sacred-Texts site (from Holly Voley collection)
The three others are from my collection:
The crackled Back deck I recently got, the 1993 edition of the Original Rider Waite and I choosed one of the Blue Box RWS (without copyright) from the early seventies.

At first quick sight it seems as if the Pamela A and the Blue Box would match together, but they dont. All 4 versions are very different.

This leads me to my request :)
I thought it could be interesting to compare these particular cards of several "Crakled Back" Pamela decks in order to see how they match together from this point of view.
I guess it could possibly help to a better identification of the decks.
It would be very nice if some collectors who are lucky to have one or more of these "Crackled Back" decks could post scans of the 9 of pentacles.
Sure I am aware that such a deck does not belong to the average collection :) but there are many great collectors here on ATF :)

I will later post scans from all above mentioned other cards. (edit: done)
The most easier to see are after the 9 of pentacles is the Fool.

It would be also really great If you also could post scans of the other mentioned cards.

Best regards

PS (edited) I have attached a PDF file because it allows a much better view and can be better zoomed. If it is difficult for some to see, I can also upload a JPG.
 

Attachments

  • PamelaPentacles9.pdf
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  • PamelaFool.pdf
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  • PamelaWands5.pdf
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  • PamelaPentacles3.pdf
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  • PamelaPentacles1.pdf
    243.4 KB · Views: 329

Fulgour

"Thank You!" :) coredil ~ This was a great pleasure
for me to view and wonder and admire the many cards.
On a personal note, I think you finally have the elusive
"Blushy Fool" we've spoke of together so many times! ;)
 

coredil

Fulgour said:
"Thank You!" :) coredil ~ This was a great pleasure
for me to view and wonder and admire the many cards.
On a personal note, I think you finally have the elusive
"Blushy Fool" we've spoke of together so many times! ;)
Hello Fulgour,
I am glad I could please you :)
Yes, a blushy Fool, but an older one, not a 70s.

I really hope that people will post some scans, I am quite sure a comparison can be interesting.
It cannot be that every single old deck is unique so there must be some decks with exactly the same flowers or stains.
At least there must be some decks of each category (A, B, C or D) with the same flowers/stains.

But indeed there are not a lot of collectors with these decks.
 

Alissa

These are wonderful! I finished Jensen's book last week, and being able to see more of the same here at AT is a real treat! I wish I had something more than my thanks to share, but you have that!
 

coredil

Alissa said:
These are wonderful! I finished Jensen's book last week, and being able to see more of the same here at AT is a real treat! I wish I had something more than my thanks to share, but you have that!
You're welcome :)
 

truelighth

I have the A,B,C and D and would love to post images here for everyone to see. It is very interesting to study. I just need to find the time. And how to post images, since I have never done it before on AT. But give me some time, and I will manage.

Btw, there is also a difference in the line art between the A, D and B, C versions.
 

Fulgour

Hello :) truelight! Here's the basics on attachments...

1) Click on "Post Reply"
2) Scroll down to and Click on "Manage Attachments"
3) Click on "Browse"
4) Select IMAGE from your Files
5) Click on "Upload"

The one tricky part is the size of the images allowed here.
For that I use the MSN Paint Box stretch/shrink feature...
(...if an upload is too big you'll get an informative prompt)
otherwise there's always PhotoBucket.com (and it's free!).

http://photobucket.com/

Best:love:Wishes!
~Fulgour
 

Lillie

I have a Pam B hanging about the place.
And i have had fun comparing it to my other RWS.
University books and the ordinary in the yellow box.
And of the three, that one is the nicest. It has the (c) but it is on this nice matt card with all these really soft colours. Nice.
The Pam B is quite boring in comparison. And the Uni is wonderfully garish.

I have looked at a couple of your scans, Coredil. I'll look at the others too. But not now. It takes the pooter a while to deal with pdf's. so I am saving them for later, as a treat.
Thanks for posting them.

TrueLighth.
You can't post pics unless you are a subscriber.
If you wanted, you could mail them to me (or someone else) and I could post them for you.
 

coredil

Oh, I am glad that now some members are willing to participate with scans or photos.

As I was asked if posting photos from the Sun or the Lover would be OK, I would like to make clear that, though any scan is always interesting and nice to see :) the Sun and Lovers cards are interesting when following the Jenssen Method as described in the Manteia courier.

But in this particular case the flowers and the stains without line drawings founded on some cards should be compared.
So, scans from following cards would be very usefull:
9 of pentacles
The Fool
5 of wands
3 of pentacles
Ace of Pentacles
And also: 5 of pentacles and 6 of cups
 

coredil

5 of pentacles and 6 of cups

I add these scans as they are also interesting to compare.
 

Attachments

  • PamelaPentacles5_2.pdf
    282.3 KB · Views: 351
  • PamelaCups6.pdf
    268.8 KB · Views: 334