Pamela Colman Smith: artist, occultist, true bohemian. Her illustrations defined the iconography of the classic tarot deck, but she is all too often forgotten.
Born in London in 1878, Pamela moved to Jamaica with her parents at the age of eleven and then to New York to study art. She dropped out of college following her mother's death in 1896, and after her father died in 1899 she found herself back in London, joining the infamous Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society dedicated to the study of occultism. It was there that she met Arthur Edward Waite, with whom she created the classic Rider-Waite Tarot deck that is still in print today.
This beautifully illustrated graphic history tells the tale of Pamela's life and relates it to the iconic cards she helped to create, from the Fool, the beginning of every new adventure, to the Magician, who focusses energy, to the Hanged Man, who helps us see things from a different perspective, until finally we embrace the World and fulfil our destinies.
With tarot expertise and a foreword from Lindsay Squire, The Witch of the Forest, this is a unique take on a perennially popular subject. You'll never look at a tarot deck in the same way again.
Foreword by Lindsay Squire, The Witch of the Forest
Before turning the pages...
Prologue
Chapter 1: Discovering the Golden Dawn
Chapter 2: The Tarot as a Journey
Chapter 3: The Fight for Rights
Chapter 4: Significant Meetings
Chapter 5: The Search for Spirituality
Epilogue
Valentina Grande is a teacher and scriptwriter. She is also a radio conductor of literary programs such as: Simply Salinger, and 42 La risposta, broadcast on Radio Onda dUrto and Radio CittąFujiko.
She is the accomplished author of the 2018 publications Il mio Salinger (later translated into French) and Raymond Carver, una storia. In 2020 she published the book Feminist Art (also published in Germany, USA, Great Britain, Spain, France and Korea). In 2021 she published Bauhaus, l'idea che ha cambiato il mondo. This book was also published in France, Germany, UK and USA. Her most recent work is on Gertrude Stein and the Lost Generation: Gertrude Stein e la generazione perduta, first published in France (subsequently translated into Italian and then published also in Germany and Spain). In April 2025 her new book titled Les nageuses de minuit will be published in France and Belgium.
Valentina Grande lives and works in Bologna (Italy).
