Crowley's "Thoth" Tarot

Transcription

1 arot Library: Thoth Comparison Table 1 of 5 13/07/2017, 20:05 Log In Register Cart Home Articles Decks Games Misc. Crowley's "Thoth" Edition Comparison Table Deck QuickSearch: Find all these words Find any of these words Advanced Search The "Thoth " created by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris is one of the bestselling and most beloved tarots in the world. While Lady Harris finished work on the original paintings in the 1940s, the illustrations were not available in actual "card form" until the 1960s. According to Stuart Kaplan in The Encyclopedia of, vol. III, p. 152, the very first "card" of the Thoth deck was published by the Simpson Printing Company (later to become the Harp Printing Company), which reproduced the illustrations from Crowley and Harris' limited book, The Book of Thoth. The cards were printed with blue ink on the front and red ink on the back, and has been dubbed The Sangreal One-Color. With interest in tarot continuing to increase through the 1960s, it is no surprise that a few major publishers finally took notice. The first full-color of the Thoth was (according to Kaplan) issued in 1969 by Samuel Weiser. Subsequent printings followed, although due to the lack of date information on many s, it is difficult to establish an exact timeline of what was published when. Kaplan's company, U.S. Games Systems, published their first of the Thoth in either 1977 or 1978 (vol.. III of Kaplan's Encyclopedia gives 1977 as the first of the USG Thoth, but the copyright on the enclosed booklet shows 1978). Llewellyn Publications also issued one, possibly two, s of the Thoth, although the exact dating of the Llewellyn printing(s) is elusive. It appears likely, but not absolutely certain, that Llewellyn released their Thoth deck between the Weiser and USG s. The Library Editions of the Crowley "Thoth" Sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s, U.S. Games reissued the Thoth deck with a different box and improved printing techniques. Around the same time, A.G. Müller of Switzerland appears to have released their first of the Thoth. Since that time, many printing companies worldwide have issued s of the Thoth deck in their own sizes and languages. The table below provides information on Thoth s that are or have been available in North America. It is likely incomplete, although it should include all of the major

2 arot Library: Thoth Comparison Table 2 of 5 13/07/2017, 20:05 An examination of the distinctive characteristics of the popular "Thoth" tarot by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris. s that have been available in the U.S. since Date information is provided where available. Distinguishing characteristics, such as the style of the box, the card borders, and the "8 of Cups" misprint are noted. Sample scans are available for each. Pictures of the boxes of each (reduced to 50% of actual size) appear to the left of the data for each listing. At present, no foreign language s (with the exception of the USG "White Box" 3-language ) or variants are included. Also, no attempt has been made to include any of the numerous numerous independent printings and recreations (such as the Japanese foil Thoth), reworkings (such as the Liber T: of Stars Eternal), and Thoth-based variants (such as the Haindl ). We may begin to include some of these related s in the future, if our time and energy permits. Corrections and additions to this table are welcome and encouraged; direct correspondence to Jeannette Roth at jkr@tarotgarden.com. Box Designation / Publication Info / Measurements "White Box A" Published by Llewellyn. No publication date indicated. "White Box B" Published by Samuel Weiser. No publication date indicated, but dated as1969 by Stuart Kaplan in his "Thoth" entry in the Encyclopedia of, vol. III. Box Description Card Titles Card Borders Face / Back Two-piece box - white cover with gold "body" box. Box text is printed in gold ink. Two s appear to have been published by Llewellyn. side of the box says "Published by Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minn U.S.A." Furthermore, one printing reads "Printed in Hong Kong," the other "Printed in the U.S.A." Two-piece box - white cover with gold "body" box. Box text is printed in black ink. side of the box says "Distributed by Samuel Weiser, 734 Broadway, N.Y ; Printed in U.S.A." superimposed in medium-size poor, making the titles difficult to read. No Hebrew letters or astrological symbols are present. superimposed in medium-size poor, making the titles difficult to read. No Hebrew letters or astrological symbols are present. Unornamented borders on the card faces. Unornamented borders on the card faces. Notes There are two misprints in at least one of the Llewellyn s: 1) The number "8" is missing from the top of the "8 of Cups" card. 2) The illustration for the "Ace of Pentacles" card is printed upside-down. The hue of the card borders is not consistent throughout the deck, although it is difficult to say with certainty if this is due to inferior printing techniques, or because of age-related fading. Link to card samples

3 arot Library: Thoth Comparison Table 3 of 5 13/07/2017, 20:05 "White Box C" Systems. Booklet for the Library copy reads "copyright 1978, 1983." The Encyclopedia of, vol. III, also shows a few samples of the White Box, and cites a publication date of "Green Box" Systems.. Booklet for the Library copy reads "copyright 1978, 1983." These copyrights would appear to apply to the booklet text, however, and seem to have nothing to do with the publication date, which, based on the information presented in Kaplan's Encyclopedias, would likely have been sometime after Standard cardboard box with top flap opening. Box text is printed in red and black ink. top of the box reads "Published and Distributed by U.S. Games Systems, Inc., New York, N.Y ; Cards printed in Belgium." showing the Two of Pentacles card surrounded by a green border. Publication information on the top flap of the box reads "Deck printed in Belgium; U.S. GAMES SYSTEMS, INC.; Stamford, CT USA." superimposed in small-size type. The contrast between the two overlapping typefaces is improved over the white box "A" and "B" s, making the titles easier to read. Titles on the majors are flanked by a Hebrew letter on the left, and an superimposed in small-size type. The contrast between the two overlapping typefaces is improved over the white box "A" and "B" s, making the titles easier to read. Titles on the majors are flanked by a Hebrew letter on the left, and an This is often referred to as the "green Thoth," due to the significant green tint to the card borders, and general "greenish" cast to the images. Later s moved to a grayish border, and exhibit less of a "green shift" in the image reproduction. A three-language and a four-language of the "C" variant were published. In the three-language, English titles appear at the center bottom, French titles in the upper left corner, and Spanish titles in the upper right corner. The four-language is the same as the three-language, except that German titles were added at the top of the left-hand border. Reports indicate that the earliest printings of the USG "Green Box" suffered from the same "green border, green cast" quality of the White Box C s. At some indeterminate point in the reprint history, however, the border hue was changed over to the gray hue that is now the standard for both the USG and AGM s. - standard - 3-language

4 arot Library: Thoth Comparison Table 4 of 5 13/07/2017, 20:05 "Purple Box" Systems. Booklet for the Library copy reads "copyright 1978, 1983, 1987." These copyrights would appear to apply to the booklet text, however, and seem to have nothing to do with the publication date, which, based on the information presented in Kaplan's Encyclopedias, would likely have been sometime after Cards measure 4.75" x 3.375" (7 cm x 11 cm) "Large Swiss Blue Box A" (early ) Published by A.G. Müller, 1986 cm x 14 cm) "Large Swiss Blue Box B" (later ) Published by A.G. Müller. No publication or copyright information for this is indicated. cm x 14 cm) showing the Two of Pentacles card surrounded by a purple border. Publication information on the top flap of the box reads "Deck printed in Belgium; U.S. GAMES SYSTEMS, INC.; Stamford, CT USA." showing the Magus card, leftaligned, surrounded by a blue border. The deck title appears below the illustration. Publication information at the top and side of the box reads "The Aleister Crowley Thoth / 1986 by AGMüller, CH-Neuhaussen. showing the Magus card surrounded by a blue border. The deck title appears above the illustration, and the publisher's name appears below. Publication information at the bottom of the box back reads " 1944, 1962 OTO International/AGM, Switzerland." This is the only, as of this writing (9 December 2005) that still retains the inclusion of the three variants of the "Magus" card. Previously preferred to the USG s because it lacked the "green tint" problems, the cards of the AGM "Large Swiss Blue Box" are now barely distinguishable from the current USG "Green Box". This contained the three different renditions of the "Magus" card. Previously preferred to the USG s because it lacked the "green tint" problems, the cards of the AGM "Large Swiss Blue Box" are now barely distinguishable from the current USG "Green Box". This does NOT contain the three different renditions of the "Magus" card.

5 arot Library: Thoth Comparison Table 5 of 5 13/07/2017, 20:05 "Pocket Swiss Blue Box" Published by A.G. Müller. No publication or copyright information for this is indicated. Cards measure 2.25" x 3.5" (6.7 cm x 9 cm) showing the Magus card surrounded by a blue border. Publication information at the bottom of the box back reads " 1944, 1962 OTO International/AGM, Switzerland." This site maintained by The ; Jeannette K. Roth and Dan M. Pelletier, proprietors. This page , Jeannette Roth and the, Inc. Images of tarot cards on this site are copyrighted to their respective designers, artists, and publishers, and are used for example purposes only; no copyright infringement is intended. Unauthorized use of our website material, including articles, text descriptions, database listings, image scans, and other Intellectual Properties contained herein, without our express written permission is strictly prohibited; see our FAQ for additional information. Questions regarding this page should be directed to info@tarotgarden.com.