Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set Cards – 1 April 2009

Must have for Waite/Rider Deck collectors/Users, I love Pamelas Colmans & A.E Waites Decks and this is the deck I've been looking for, The commemorative set is so well laid out and stylish I couldn't beleave how well its presented. Its comes with the commemorative Coleman & Waire Tarot deck which is the original print of the 1909 deck and the best version of the Tarot deck. Also it comes with a book about P.Colman and her work and A.E.Waite's book the Pictorial Key to the tarot. Its also comes with art postcard prints a tarot card layout sheet and art poster prints. My collection ended when I bought this... Well for now :)WARNING!! I didnt notice this at first but the Waites Pictorial Key to the Tarot that comes with this set has misprints in it, the book it self would have been the best print of the book ive seen if only for one they put the Tarot picture prints in the book which isnt the biggest deal since you have the actual deck but even still. Also another problem is the chapter Contents at the start of the book is missing a section 'a history to the tarot' which is in the book just not listed on the contents also in the 'trumps major and their innner simbolism' section later in the book there is a page completly missing, its the page with the description of the No21 'The World' major trump. I noticed this straight away as I read through 1st time but luckly I have another version of the book, so word of warning Great Tarot And P.coleman set but if your looking to read the 'The Pictorial key to the Tarot' buy another cheap print on the side.

I havent always loved the Rider Waite Smith deck. To be honest, once I realised there were other good decks out there, my copy fell to the very bottom of my reading pile.But when I saw the scans of this reprint.. I am blow away by the deck! The deck itself has a little tint to the deck, to make it look older, but also in sympathy for the first print of the deck. It looks and feels much better to me, that olde feeling of a deck that really is 100 years old and works with Colman Smith's artwork.As well as the deck you get 2 books. One is the pictorial key to the tarot by Arthur edward waite and the artwork and times of pamela colman smith by Stuart Kaplan. Kaplan's book has lots of scans from PCS's artwork and anything he can find connected to her and her life. Its a wonderful book and such an insight into the forgotten artist of this deck.There is also a little blue bag for the deck and sheet with 3 spreads on.All in all this set is wonderful and well worth the money. The presentation box, 2 books, deck, bag and spread poster is just amazing for the price of about £23 and this is owning part of Tarot history.I wholeheartedly recommend it.

I purchased this commemorative set for the sole purpose of reading the much anticipated book on Pamela's life and art as I already owned the Rider Waite deck itself, along with the accompanying cards' interpretations by A E Waite. Having finished this publication I was so eager to read, I will give a brief description only as an addendum to the other reviews:The Artwork and Times of Pamela Colman Smith is written by Stuart R Kaplan, who fortunately takes this endeavour to inform us with this insight into Pamela's life very seriously. The 101 page book contains lots of her non tarot illustrations, and varied examples of her poems or writings in a chronological order. The biographical information builds an interesting and often poignant picture of Smith's personal hopes, ideals, and public ventures, without being in any way obtrusive: a worthy retrospective of a creative life well lived.This set is certainly recommended for anyone newly interested in tarot, or those who enjoy art, biographies, or those willing to delve into the accomplishments and spirit of this fascinating lady.

This edition is a must have for fans of the Rider Waite Tarot. This is the edition I have been seeking out for years as it features the images as they were originally printed in 1909 unlike the current re-coloured and re-edited versions which I could never fully connect with. This deck is much clearer to the Original Waite and doesn't have the green skies in many of the images. However some people have complained about the grainy or newspaper like print of these cards. The reason for this is because the images have been most likely scanned from the original first edition deck from 1909 - as the original card drawings have never been discovered and allegedly got lost during the war. This also explains why there are so many bad printings of this deck as they have been simply recopied from copies and not the original.

Wow, what can I say... Yesterday I wrote a review about the Sola Busca Tarot which was described as a museum quality kit and I was disappointed, it only got 4 stars. Today I am writing a review about the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative set and I am blown away by the quality, the presentation, the reproduction and the content of this kit. The colours and print mimic the originals very closely, the cards are printed on good quality stock, they are a good size which makes them easy to hold and the coffret is well designed to accommodate two books, a number of postcard size images and the pack of cards. Added to that there is a nice little bag to hold the cards together. Very pleased.

This is such a beautiful edition of the traditional Waite-Smith (otherwise known as the Rider-Waite) deck. The colouring is beautiful, and allows details in the cards to come through clearly. The deck feels great and is easy to shuffle. I would recommend the Commemorative Set for the biography of Pamela Colman Smith which comes with it