Rider waite tarot pocket11/3/2023 In 1909, she received the commission from Waite, who wanted PCS to create images to illustrate old tarot manuscripts he had found, and to “follow very carefully the astrological significance of each suit”. He takes us through Pamela’s life and career in chronological detail, beginning at her birth in 1878, through her early career a children’s book illustrator and set designer, to her involvement in her twenties with Yeats and then Waite in the Order of the Golden Dawn. Kaplan collected books, art, magazines, letters and ephemera that belonged to her, and has put together an illuminating picture of her life and how she came to create the most recognizable cards in the Western world. Kaplan’s book provides the most original and intriguing content of the set, which is really worth having simply for its information on PCS. The backs are almost but not quite reversible, in a medium blue-grey with a five-pointed rose in the centre and PCS' distinctive signature in two corners. The cards of the Smith-Waite are a good size at 7cm by 12cm, not too big too shuffle but big enough to see the details. The images also seem ‘dottier’ the dot screening that creates blended colours is more obvious, particularly on the blues in the World and the Hermit, giving the cards the appearance of an old comic. Compared with the most well-known edition of the Rider-Waite, the cards have an aged, almost dirty look, and the colours are much more muted – the bright yellow background of the Magician or Strength has more of a grey tone to it. It is a reprint of the original deck published in 1909. On the right of the inner box, snugly tucked into a box insert, is the Smith-Waite Tarot Centennial Edition deck. There’s still more – also included is a laminated spread fold-out, with three spreads printed on it, and an organza bag to hold the cards if they aren’t kept in the box. Then there are six postcards of Pamela’s art an image of the Empress, portraits, and book illustrations, three 5” by 7” art prints in her trademark artistic style, and a photo of PCS herself, wearing beads and feathers, and appearing to be in animated conversation with the photographer. Waite’s dry, seemingly arbitrary and sometimes incomprehensible companion book, “The Pictorial Key to the Tarot”. It’s a smallish book in size, but has coffee-table type printing with thick glossy pages and plenty of full-colour pictures. On the left, there is the biography by Kaplan, titled “The Artwork and Times of Pamela Colman Smith: Artist of the Rider-Waite Tarot Deck”. Both have sturdy inner covers (made of the same thick cardboard as the outer box) that are easily opened with a small ribbon. It opens like a book, with two inner sections. It’s heavy for good reason – inside are two books, the 78 cards and assorted extras. The Commemorative Set is a rather huge, heavy package that sits well on the bookshelf, sized at 14cm wide, 8cm deep and 19cm tall. US Games redresses the imbalance, naming the centennial deck after the artist and showcasing her life’s work – which was more than just tarot cards - in a comprehensive biography by Stuart Kaplan. Pamela Colman Smith – Pixie – the artist who drew the now famous tarot images, has been lesser well known than Waite, the member of the Golden Dawn who instructed her to provide illustrations to accompany tarot texts, and Rider, the publishers of the deck. In celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the publication of the Rider-Waite Tarot, US Games have published the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set. Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set Review by Solandia
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