First published in 1911, ‘The Pictorial Key to the Tarot’ is a guide to the divinatory tarot deck by A.E. Waite. An American-born British poet and mystic, Waite is famed for co-creating the Rider-Waite tarot deck, sometimes referred to as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. While there were many tarot decks created and distributed around the world prior to this, the Rider-Waite deck was the first to become widely famous.
It was also the first to illustrate all 78 cards fully when most decks only illustrated the 22 Major Arcana cards. Waite extensively researched the significance of each card’s symbolism and deeper meaning as part of the creation of the deck and shares these insights in “The Pictorial Key to the Tarot”. In addition to a discussion of the significance of each card and the images that appear on it, Waite also includes instructions on how to conduct a reading. Waite’s guide remains as useful as when it was first written a century ago and is an essential addition to the library of anyone who practices the tarot or wishes to learn more about its meaning.