Product Description

Discussions and photographs of 3,200 cards from decks dating from the 15th to the 20th century, plus 100 references to the origins of tarot and playing cards.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123542 in Books
• Published on: 1978-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 387 pages

Review
"A monumental work of research. Every serious collector will find the "Encyclopedia an absolute necessity."

Customer Reviews

A wonderful resource for Tarot enthusiasts and a great intro
This comprehensive book is also the first volume of Kaplan's Encyclopedia of the Tarot. Kaplan, as the founder and owner of US Games Systems (a major distributor of Tarot cards) and a collector himself walks the reader through the history and schematics of the Tarot.
The book contains many images from Tarot decks, modern and historic, and information for neophytes to Tarot. A must have for the serious enthusiast and a great introduction for the neophyte user.

Daniel T. Barkowitz, drwitz@tiac.net

Perfect Book for the SERIOUS tarot lover
This book is an excellent resource for those interested in the history of the tarot. To really know the tarot, and be able to use it well, one needs to know what it is and where it came from. You need to know the original meanings of the cards and how they evolved over time. This book does that better than any other. Not only does Kaplan show and explain some rare decks and their origins, he gives information from many sources, not just one author's belief, on all different aspects of the cards.
He tells of their beginnings, uses, changes over time. He explains how people in different metaphysical genres relate to them from astrology to numerology to Kabalah.
This book , and volume II are a "must have" for any serious and dedicated tarot reader and teacher.The other 2 volumes are fun and great for collectors, but this book and volume II are the "meat" of the series.
The books are packed full of information, which comes from various resources, with pictures of rare decks and individual cards.
This is THE BEST tarot book out there .
It is not a book on layouts or how to do a spread , it is an IN DEPTH examination of the cards, not only today, but their changing archetypes over hundreds of years. This is a must have in any divination library!
Art and history buffs will enjoy it too!