Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot Deck
This 84-card deck reproduces Pamela Colman Smith’s 1909 artwork in the muted, restrained palette she herself chose, which differs noticeably from the brighter colors of later editions. The four extra cards are samples of Smith’s non-tarot work, including illustrations for Much Ado About Nothing, The Gates of Dreamland, Christmas Carol, and Once in a Dream, offering a glimpse of the wider artistic career that surrounded the tarot project. The deck was first issued in 2009 as part of the Pamela Colman Smith Commemorative Set; this standalone version is designed for collectors who want to read with it without handling a set they prefer to keep intact.
About the Creators
Pamela Colman Smith was born in London and spent her early life moving between Europe and North America as her father’s work required. After her mother’s death when she was ten, she was taken in by friends who worked in the theater. In 1893 she moved to Brooklyn and enrolled at the Pratt Institute, studying art under Arthur Wesley Dow. She returned to England after graduating and built a career as an illustrator and theatrical designer. In 1909, Arthur Edward Waite commissioned her to illustrate his tarot deck, paying her a flat fee. Waite selected her for the work because of her artistic talent, their shared membership in the Golden Dawn, and his belief that her intuitive gifts would help her convey deeper symbolic meaning. Her name was omitted from the original deck in favor of the publisher’s, an injustice the tarot community has increasingly worked to correct by referring to the deck by the name Rider-Waite-Smith. She died in Bude, Cornwall, on September 18, 1951.
What do the cards have in store for you?
Discover our tarot readingsSimilar Decks
