The Encyclopedia of Tarot, Vol. 4 (Hardcover)

~ Stuart R. Kaplan (Author), Jean Huets (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This fourth volume of the Encyclopedia of Tarot (previous volumes were published in 1978, 1986, and 1990, and each one stands alone) continues the tradition of its predecessors in locating and describing decks of tarot and tarock decks. (Tarock is a tarot deck used for gaming and has fewer cards.) Tarot decks are not just used for divination but are also works of art and collectibles.

Volume IV describes more than 800 different tarot decks with over 11,000 individual cards reproduced. Most of the illustrations are black and white, but 64 cards are reproduced in color and in a larger size. The first part of the book covers "Unpublished Tarot Designs," defined as original artwork, designs on T-shirts, decks posted on the Internet, and limited editions. These are arranged in alphabetical order by name of the deck. They include decks based on the original Dark Shadows daytime serial, the Enchanted Path Tarot using abstract symbols, and Tarot of the Goddess.

Part 2, "Published Tarot Decks," includes the Animal Tarot, a variety of Celtic decks, H. P. Lovecraft tarot, Shakespeare tarot, and much more. The authors make an error in describing the Popess card in the Shakespeare set, referring to Mary Stuart as Elizabeth I's half sister. Also included are more than 100 tarot decks from Japan.

Part 3, "Antiques and Ancients" covers decks published prior to the twentieth century, arranged according to their first known printing. Part 4 covers "Tarock Packs" with pre-World War II decks shown in chronological order and post-WWII decks in alphabetical order by name.

A one-page essay entitled "Does the Tarot Work?" concludes the entries. A lengthy annotated bibliography of books, articles, films, and more that were not included in the previous three volumes follows the essay. Indexing is not sufficiently detailed, and readers looking under general headings such as death will be frustrated by the hundreds of page citations.

This encyclopedia is more useful to collectors of tarot decks and less useful in divination. Reasonably priced, it is recommended for all libraries where the previous volumes have been popular or where a demand for such titles exists. Abbie Vestal Landry
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 802 pages
• Publisher: U.S. Games Systems (September 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157281506X
• ISBN-13: 978-1572815063
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #567,778 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Volume IV - Thousands of Card Images From 850 Unpublished & Published Tarot Decks, November 15, 2005

By	Janet Boyer "JanetBoyer.com" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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"Tarotists are as diverse in style, personality, background, and appearance as the characters on the cards themselves. At the same time, we are drawn together by a common interest. We gravitate to each other, in person and on-line: collectors, scholars, art historians, occultists, business people, artists and fortunetellers who read the cards. The pages of the Encyclopedia are a gallery of the people of tarot, living and long-dead, as much as they are a gallery of tarot cards." - From the book

Featuring artwork from 850 tarot decks and reproductions of more than 11,000 different tarot cards from the 20th century, Volume IV is the largest installment of the Encyclopedia of Tarot. From Celtic Revival to Japanese manga, Native American lore to teddy bears, Volume IV explores these themes and much more. In addition, this volume further investigates the Western esoteric tradition of tarot, including Egyptian, Masonic, Kabbalistic, and Christian symbolism, as well as New Age values.

Volume IV incorporates both unpublished and published tarot decks from a vast array of media such as computer graphics, watercolors, engravings, wood, textiles, oil paints and more. Unfortunately, the full-color, glossy pictures of this volume span only eight pages with the rest of the card images depicted in black and white. The artists' personal commentary on the decks is often provided, helping to illuminate interpretation and philosophy of their work.

Some of the fascinating tarot decks displayed in Volume IV include:

* Tarocchi di Robot (Tarot of the Robot) by Massimo Borreli (1987)
* Roots of Asia by Amnart Klanpracher (2001)
* Vertigo Tarot by Dave McKean based on the DC Comics series (1995 and 2001)
* Magic Story of Misa Tarot by Misa no Mahou Monogatari (1998)
* Ramses: Tarot of Eternity by Giordano Berti and Severino Baldi (2003)
* Full Moon Dreams by Lunaea Weatherstone (1998)
* Gaian Tarot by Joanna Powell Colbert (2002)
* Hanslian Tarot by Alois Hanslian (1998)
* Cosmic Tribe Tarot by Stevee Postman (1998)
* Stained Glass Tarot by Laurie Amato (1999)
* PoMo Tarot by Brian Williams (1994)
* Hudes Tarot by Susan Hudes (1995)
* Animal-Wise Tarot by Ted Andrews (1999)
* Maat Tarot by Julia Cuccia-Watts (2002)

Several decks listed under "Unpublished" are now published. For example, Zach Wong's Adflatus deck (2000)-published as Revelations Tarot-is featured in Volume IV as is Amy Erickson's New Millennium Tarot (1999) which is now known as Tarot of the Four Elements (text by Isha Lerner).

Special features in Volume IV of the Encyclopedia of Tarot include:

* Tarock packs (Tarot decks used only for gaming)
* Annotated bibliography of more than 1,500 books and articles dating from the 18th century to present
* The "Ancient Egyptian Temple", a pictorial history of decks based on ancient Egyptian symbolism
* 100 Japanese decks with many based on popular manga and anime characters
* Cataloguing of decks by themes (e.g. animals, Celtic, Goth) as well as illustrative technique (e.g. photography, collage, computer graphics)
* The essay "Does Tarot Work?" by Allen Stairs

At 802 pages, Volume IV of the Encyclopedia of Tarot is a visual feast for Tarot enthusiasts. I found a few typos so far, but these errors don't eclipse the main reason I bought this book: to see Tarot images from hundreds of decks for comparison and pure aesthetic enjoyment. If you're the type of person that loves viewing Tarot cards online, often drooling at what you see, you'll be thrilled at having thousands of images at your fingertips.

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extensive visual and descriptive tour of over 800 mass-market tarot decks, September 6, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

The Encyclopedia Of Tarot, Volume IV is an extensive visual and descriptive tour of over 800 mass-market tarot decks, limited editions, antique decks, previously unpublished tarot artwork, and 100 published Japanese tarot decks including some based on anime and manga. Black-and-white photographs of deck cards and extensive detailed history and discussion of the artists, themes, and esoteric traditions of tarot. Volume IV is complete within and of itself, and does not hold any duplicated material with Volumes I, II, and III. An excellent reference for anyone interested in learning more about all aspects of tarot, or searching for images of the ideal tarot deck for one's tastes.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much More of the Same, January 17, 2007

By	Bob McDermott (Wallingford, CT) - See all my reviews

I seem to recall seeing somewhere that this (the fourth volume in the series) was originally intended as two volumes; at just over 800 pages, its nearly twice the size of the early volumes. and if you were happy with those, chances are you will be pleased with this latest addition, as they are much of a kind. In works of this sort, if the size is to be manageable at all, the authors have to decide whether to go with breadth of coverage or with depth. Kaplan and company have chosen to go with breadth, and attempt to cover a whopping 800 decks, mostly pictorially. They try to counter the unavoidable superficiality of most of this coverage by doing selected depth coverage of topics such as the Tarot of Marseilles and decks with Egyptian motifs, not to mention an extraordinary 1 page article entitled "Does the Tarot Work?" Although I find myself often wishing there were more detail, (or more color photography), in the last analysis, I think they made the right choice: I wouldn't sacrifice any of the decks covered for additional detail. Hopefully the reception this volume receives will support a Volume 5 without the ten year wait that preceeded this one.