"Original" RWS jade green

I am with you Kingfish, I chose to aquire the original deck, for the same reasons..It felt more intune with my idea of what an original would look like, Whether i be right or wrong it didnt matter, i like things to be as original as possible..and the muted colours did it for me..

Gosh. I ordered the Original and it arrived today. I don´t know what to think of it. I made a point of ordering a 1993 edition, printed in Belgium so I guess Ive got the "right" edition of the Original (as I believe there are other, glossier, more recent versions)..

I thought I would love it, but Im not sure I do. It looks like a photograph of a deck. The images seem a bit further away (maybe it´s the contrast of old-fashioned colours juxtaposed with white borders. Jarrs a little) But it´s the thick black lines which surprised me. I never expected it to look quite so heavy-handed. Maybe I´ll grow to like it (I have the Universal Waite but my first was the British 2-part Blue Box version with the World on the front). The image of the King of pentacles is all but illegible. A murky swirl.

I so want to like it....

I dont know what year mine is as I have searched all over everything and it doesnt say, it was printed and bound in Belgium too..

ISBN 07126 7067 x

Mine is very soft I gree the lines are thick.. but you do get use to them..


Even though it says original, I am pretty sure they are not the first print of this deck.. I remember reading orignal rider waite came after,
I am no expert so could be wrong.. But i do like this deck the best , because of the the softer colours.

That´s the same edition, Dancing Bear, mine has the same ISBN. I find it too dark, too blotchy. I´m going to try and get used to it but it seems too much of a facsimilie deck. Doesn´t draw me in at all. I really thought Id like the muted colours. I bought the Universal at the weekend and suddenly all the details came thrillingly alive and if I use the Original, it´s as if they´ve gone all murky again

I don't think the difference in colour between the 1910 version and the deck the 'Original' RWS was based on has any esoteric significance.

PCS provided black and white drawings for the deck. The colours were added through the lithography print process. The print plates were acid etched stones and colour placement was determined by a process called amber paste ups (although I don't know exactly how this worked).

There are numerous surviving 'versions' of the deck - The line drawings on the standard US Games versions are the originals and these are also used in the Pictorial Key to the Tarot. The line drawings on the 'Original' RW are second generation, probably re-prepared when the original stone print plates had to be replaced. Bear in mind, no-one thought it would stay in print long enough for the plates to wear down anyway!

The first editions used the fresher colours whilst later editions used the more muted jade blue. My own theory is that these are simply cheaper ink pigments and that the jade editions are post first world war when affordability/availability issues would have been paramount. These new colours were introduced when the original print plates were still in use and there are 'second generation' versions of the deck that are a half way house between what we now know as the 'Original' and the standard versions.

Incidentally, it's well worth trying to source the belgium/carta mundi printed copies over the now current italian ones. The print balancing and colour matching on these new versions is so poor that the jade blue has reproduced almost like lime green.

Chris. xx