The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot

[jmd]

A book that many will want to get as soon as possible, I suspect:

K. Frank Jensen's

The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot

[Fulgour]

The Association for Tarot Studies presents...

Good Luck!

[Elven]

This looks as if this is a book I really need to have!!

Love the cover

Blessings
Elven x

[jmd]

That's right Fulgour - this thread is an advertisement!

(hence in the advertising Forum )

Elven, I personally agree.

It is not of the same nature as, for example, the incredible diversions into Tarot Symbolism that Robert O'Neill's is, nor is it Spiritual exegesis as Meditations on the Tarot, nor does it provide a good solid background to readings such as Mary Greer's 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card... it is wimply and wonderfully what its title suggests:

the story of the deck: its various printings, its pervasiveness, its variations, and the claims some have made - all during its first century of existence.

For some, there will be some sections that may appear bogged to details (about, for example, whether or not a particular curved ray appears to emanate from the Sun card on various early editions). On the whole, however, it provides a fantastic resource and tells a story of the deck's episodes in various parts of the world that certainly, I would think, no-one teaching about or with the deck would want to be without.

[jmd]

Table of contents (corrected from an earlier quick transcription that included minor errors):

Contents

Preface pg. 8
Foreword pg. 9


PART ONE - Artist and author

Introduction 17

Arthur Edward Waite: 20

• Relationship with religion 22
• Professional life 22
• Authorship 24
• The publishers 27
• Occult Review 27
• Spiritualism 28
• Arthur Machen and Annus Mirabilis 31
• Business life at Horlicks 34

Pamela Colman Smith 37

• Formal artistic education 38
• Life as an artist 41
• Theatre life 41
• Social life and friends 42
• Jamaican tales - story telling 45
• The illustrator 46
• Publications 47
• The suffrage movement/ charity work 49
• The painter 50
• Golden Dawn 54
• Retreating to solitude? 54

PART TWO - Waite’s Golden Dawn

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn 61
The Tarot Scene around the turn of the century 72
The Golden Dawn tarot packs 73
The Waite-Smith tarot comes alive 75
Waite’s part 78
Placement of The Fool 80
Exchanging Justice with Strength 82
The Lovers 83
The Sun 83
Waite’s minor arcana 87
Celtic Cross card spread 88
The Key and Waite’s secrecy 90
A secret can not be kept forever 92
Waite after the Waite-Smith tarot 94
The end 97
Waite’s writings on tarot 98

PART THREE - the Waite-Smith Tarot Deck

Printing technique 105

The early Waite-Smith editions 110

• Details compared 110
• The lovers 121
• The sun 122
• Why the different editions? 123
• The back pattern 124
• The Original Rider-Waite 1993 125
• What does the Sun ray mean? 128

Early editions: conclusion 129

• The four editions: Pamela A 129
• Pamela B 131
• Pamela C 131
• Pamela D 131
• Key to the Tarot/ Pictorial Key to the Tarot 132
•Questions still open 134

Waite-Smith Tarot decks after World War II 137
The Popularity of the Waite-Smith Tarot 143
The copyright issue 149
Epilogue 155
Honouring Miss Smith 155

PART FOUR - catalogue

Early Waite Smith remakes - the Story goes on 161

• de Laurence 162
• BOTA 165
• Thomson Leng 166
• Henriette Schmandt 166
• University Books 166
• Zolar 167
• Vending Machine 168
• Royal Fez Morrocan Tarot 169
• Holy Order of Mans 169
• Hoi Polloy 170
• Ancient Prophecy 171
• Merrimac 171
• Health Research 172
• Bearot 172
• Three Japanese decks 172

Limited editions: AMAkort, Ouroboros 175

Pamela’s Portraits - hommage to Pixie 175

Recolourings

• Albano-Waite 183
• Universal Waite 184
• Golden Rider 185
• Illuminated Rider 185

The mass-market 1980-2000 187

• two dutch editions 187
• Greek Waite-Smith Tarot 188
• three Russian editions 188
• An Audio Exploration 189
• Tarot in de Hergesteelde Orde 189
• Anrath’s Tarot a la Carte 189
• Adam Fronteras 190
• Diamond Tarot 191
• Millennium by Folchi 191
• Tarot Sutra 192
• Gummibärchen 192
• Zingara (gipsy tarot) 193
• Waite de Angelis 193
• Tarot of the New Vision 193
• Comparative Tarot 194
• Glowing in the Dark and Braille 195
• Quick and Easy tarot 195
• Affirmation/Epicurean tarot 195
• Radiant Rider-Waite 196
• Golden Tarot 196

Appendix:

Appendix 1: The Waite-Smith Tarot, illustrations 199
Appendix 2: List of Literature 207
Appendix 3: Waite - unabridged 217

[Elven]

Originally Posted by jmd

it is wimply and wonderfully what its title suggests:

the story of the deck: its various printings, its pervasiveness, its variations, and the claims some have made - all during its first century of existence.

jmd That a whole lotta book there!! Thanks for including the content listing - its easy to read through and seems nice & progressive (for moi anyway) ...

Thankyou!

Blessings
Elven x

[Scion]

Amazing! Very excited about this one JMD...

[jackdaw*]

Fantastic, jmd! I was on the fence about this one, but the Contents convinced me. I've just sent my order form

[blackroseivy]

Originally Posted by jmd

Table of contents (a quick transcription - so I may have made some minor errors to be fixed):

Arthur Macben and Annus Mirabilis

I believe that Arthur Machen is intended?

[Sentient]

Looks like a great book - thanks for the heads-up!