[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”23128″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_target=”_blank” img_size=”410×231″ style=”vc_box_outline” css=”.vc_custom_1446751718823{padding-bottom: 6px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” type=”full_width” in_content_menu=”” icon_pack=”font_awesome” content_menu_fe_icon=”arrow_back” text_align=”left” pattern_background=”” css=”.vc_custom_1446752387288{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”22612″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_target=”_blank” img_size=”172×184″ style=”vc_box_outline” css=”.vc_custom_1446752353609{padding-top: 6px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/6″][vc_column_text]Mathers had written a short book called The Tarot<\/a><\/em> 21 years earlier from his own research. By the time that Waite was inducted\u00a0into the Golden Dawn Mathers had ascended to the leadership, a position he was ill-suited for. The Golden Dawn was well past its\u00a0prime, but was primed for a renaissance with the coming of Waite, Crowley, and a handful of new members whose only ties were\u00a0their forthcoming membership and personal accomplishments. Mathers’ tyranny had caused the breakup of the original order, but he loved\u00a0his power and position far too much to let this golden goose die, and so by the time that Waite created his public tarot, with the\u00a0help of a talented young artist who was a junior member of the GD, Mathers had imbued Art (Waite) and Pam (Colman Smith)\u00a0with his ideology–inasmuch as Mathers was capable of shaping the mind of a serious scholar of metaphysics who had years of\u00a0researching and translating old manuscripts for the English speaking world.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” type=”full_width” anchor=”” in_content_menu=”” content_menu_title=”” icon_pack=”font_awesome” content_menu_fa_icon=”” content_menu_fe_icon=”arrow_back” text_align=”left” video=”” video_overlay=”” video_overlay_image=”” video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_image=”” background_image=”” pattern_background=”” section_height=”” parallax_speed=”” background_color=”” border_color=”” side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” color=”” hover_color=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=””][vc_column width=”5\/6″][vc_column_text]The Key to the Tarot<\/em> contains much of Mather’s ideas set down in his 1888 book, sometimes almost verbatim, and Mathers was the\u00a0invisible hand that convinced Art to change the suit of Coins into “Pentacles” among other beliefs we take for granted to this day.\u00a0In all fairness, the deck should be called the (Mathers)-Waite-Smith deck, but since history has already decided that it should be termed “Waite-Smith,” let’s not upset the apple cart of popular belief. In every way, Arthur Edward Waite deserves credit for his\u00a0authorship of The Key to the Tarot<\/em>, just as much as it was his idea to make a public deck (something Mathers was not keen on), and\u00a0also as much as Pixie (Pam) influenced Art to allow her to illustrate the “pip suits,” having seen a photographic copy of the Sola Busca deck<\/a> on display at the London Museum.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”23142″ style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”http:\/\/waitesmith.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/sbvws_7oS-min.jpg” css=”.vc_custom_1446753337647{padding-top: 2px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” type=”full_width” in_content_menu=”” icon_pack=”font_awesome” content_menu_fe_icon=”arrow_back” text_align=”left” pattern_background=”” css=”.vc_custom_1446765120670{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text]Enter L.W. de Laurence, stage left . . .<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” type=”full_width” in_content_menu=”” icon_pack=”font_awesome” content_menu_fe_icon=”arrow_back” text_align=”left” pattern_background=”” css=”.vc_custom_1446766058932{margin-bottom: 20px !important;border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #b39964 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #b39964 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;border-top-color: #b39964 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;border-bottom-color: #b39964 !important;border-bottom-style: solid !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”23194″ style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_target=”_blank” img_size=”392×313″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n L.W. had previously prepared public domain works for the explosive growth market that was America’s love of the occult and\u00a0Eastern mysticism. He considered some of Waite’s previous work public domain and published it, profited from it, and sold a lot<\/em>\u00a0of copies, so it is no stretch that when he came into contact with The Pictorial Key to the Tarot<\/a><\/em> (almost certainly between late 1915 and early 1916) he saw the potential to exploit these new wonderful “fully illustrated cards” and the book from which the artwork was lifted.\u00a0There is a slim possibility that de Laurence did in fact possess an “A deck<\/a>,” but this flies in the face of everything that happened as a\u00a0result of his exposure to Pam’s work. L.W. never published a deck in color, other than the yellow enhancements he added to his deck. Furthermore, the act of isolating\u00a0the line art from an “A deck” (pre-colored) would be exponentially more expensive than simply using the camera ready art so conveniently provided in Waite’s\u00a0PKtT<\/em>, which was far easier to obtain. Also remember that L.W. was in the business of making books\u00a0and other “exotic items” available to an underserved market (in his mind). He did not simply copy whatever someone else was already selling<\/em>; his business model centered around high demand items that he considered hard to obtain otherwise. This was, after all, the key to his phenomenal success. Had the Rider decks been readily available in the U.S., no one would have ever bought the one published by\u00a0\u00a0de\u00a0Laurence.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” type=”full_width” in_content_menu=”” icon_pack=”font_awesome” content_menu_fe_icon=”arrow_back” text_align=”left” pattern_background=”” css=”.vc_custom_1446767672402{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column width=”5\/6″][vc_column_text]Please keep in mind that L.W. de Laurence only ever published one deck, what we now call the “square yellow<\/a>” for convenience,”\u00a0even though he lived another twenty years past its inception. His first ad<\/a> for “his new deck” included Mathers’ book The Tarot<\/em>,\u00a0which he had available and ready for sale. His version of Art’s Pictorial Key to the Tarot<\/em> would not be ready for sale until 1917. His cards were printed on heavy cardstock (not playing card stock), and were rectangles, devoid of the rounded edges his son Velo\u00a0would add when he published the (now -termed) “round yellow de Laurence deck<\/a>” in 1943 or 1944, seven or eight years after his\u00a0father had passed on.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”22683″ border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_target=”_blank” img_size=”187×139″ style=”vc_box_outline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” type=”full_width” in_content_menu=”” icon_pack=”font_awesome” content_menu_fe_icon=”arrow_back” text_align=”left” pattern_background=”” css=”.vc_custom_1446767548247{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column width=”5\/6″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n L.W.’s book and decks always included black line art (this would be Wm.\u00a0Rider & Son, Ltd.’s printing of Pam’s final art for The Pictorial Key to the\u00a0Tarot<\/em>) and gray shading (de Laurence’s touch), and swaths of yellow to create his distinctive “five oriental colors” (black, half-screen black, or “gray,” yellow, half-screen yellow or “light yellow,” and the mix of the two half-screens to create ochre). It would only be after L.W.’s death that Velo would reduce printing costs\u00a0and publish The De Laurence co.’s Key to the Tarot<\/em> (Oracles Behind the Veil<\/em>) on less expensive pulp paper, and with no yellow\u00a0highlights. As this started in the Great Depression, it makes good business sense to cut expenses to keep from having to raise the\u00a0price on scarce materials. Over the years The De Laurence co.’s Key to the Tarot<\/em> was reprinted several times, with various covers\u00a0(please see the gallery below), but the yellow highlights were reserved for the first three editions only.\u00a0Download a (legal) PDF of the 1916 edition of this book here<\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0This is a high-quality scan.<\/em> I have already donated to Aisha to help the cause. If you can spare a dollar or two to help keep her site up please do.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_single_image image=”22729″ style=”vc_box_outline” border_color=”grey” img_link_large=”yes” img_link_target=”_blank” img_size=”187×139″ css=”.vc_custom_1446768689552{padding-top: 4px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” type=”full_width” anchor=”” in_content_menu=”” content_menu_title=”” icon_pack=”font_awesome” content_menu_fa_icon=”” content_menu_fe_icon=”arrow_back” text_align=”left” video=”” video_overlay=”” video_overlay_image=”” video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_image=”” background_image=”” pattern_background=”” section_height=”” parallax_speed=”” background_color=”” border_color=”” side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” color=”” hover_color=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=””][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_tabs style=”boxed”][vc_tab title=”1916″ tab_id=”2b7cb13e-289a-8″][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” use_as_box=”” type=”full_width” anchor=”” text_align=”left” background_color=”” background_image=”” section_height=”” border_color=”” side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” color=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=””][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”2\/3″][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_fade” interval=”3″ images=”23171,23172,23173,23174,23186,23187″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” choose_frame=”default” img_size=”540×360″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]Please click on the image to see it full-sized, or on the arrows to scroll through the various pictures.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It is really too bad this book is a blatant act of plagiarism. It is handsomely bound and printed on exquisite stock. This is most certainly an heirloom edition, despite the tumor on the ouroborous (snake) and the sloppy printing on the cover (not to worry, the 1918 edition was much cleaner). Sadly however, this is the only gilt-edge edition L.W. was ever to make, at least of this book. All outside edges are gilt (not just the top) and after 98 years the spine and binding are\u00a0strong and tight. The copy shown here has seen wear and use, but it has\u00a0laughed off a century of abuse and will probably last another\u00a0(I will be dust and bones\u00a0by then).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
![\"smiley-min\"](\"http:\/\/waitesmith.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/smiley-min.jpg\")
<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tab][vc_tab title=”1918″ tab_id=”1446772137725-1-6″][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” use_as_box=”” type=”full_width” anchor=”” text_align=”left” background_color=”” background_image=”” section_height=”” border_color=”” side_padding=”” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” more_button_label=”” less_button_label=”” button_position=”” color=”” css_animation=”” transition_delay=”” el_id=””][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”2\/3″][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_fade” interval=”3″ images=”” onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” column_number=”2″ grayscale=”no” frame=”” choose_frame=”default”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”” width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]Please click on the image to see it full-sized, or on the arrows to scroll through the various pictures.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n