Editing Pamela Colman Smith (section)

==Waite–Smith Tarot==
{{Main articles|Rider–Waite Tarot}}
[[File:RWS Tarot 00 Fool.jpg|thumb|[[The Fool (Tarot card)|"The Fool"]] card from the [[Rider–Waite Tarot|Waite–Smith Tarot]]]]
The 78 illustrations that make up the [[Rider–Waite Tarot|Waite–Smith Tarot]] "represent archetypal subjects that each become a portal to an invisible realm of signs and symbols, believed to be channeled through processes of divination." They are original works of art and unique in terms of the cards' stylization, draftsmanship, and composition, which is a significant aesthetic achievement. They are one of the best examples of Smith's imagination for fantasy, folly, ecstasy, death, and the macabre.<ref name=":0" />

The deck bearing Smith's illustrations, first published in England by Rider in December 1909, were simply labeled ''Tarot Cards'' and accompanied by ''The Key to the Tarot'' guide by Arthur Edward Waite. His guide was updated the following year with Smith's black-and-white drawings, and republished as ''[[The Pictorial Key to the Tarot]]''. 

[[U.S. Games]] acquired the rights to publish the deck in 1971, released variously as ''The Rider Tarot Deck'', simply ''Rider Tarot'', and ''Rider Waite Tarot''. Based on differences in U.S. and U.K. copyright law, the extent of their copyright in the Waite–Smith deck is disputed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/tarot/faq.htm#usgamesclaim |title=The Rider–Waite–Smith Tarot Card Copyright FAQ |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=2012-03-31}}</ref> Recent scholars, recognizing the central importance of Smith's contribution, often refer to the deck as the ''Waite–Smith Tarot'',<ref>{{harvnb|Jensen|2005}}</ref> while others prefer the abbreviation RWS, for Rider–Waite–Smith.

In the century since the deck's first printing, there have been dozens of editions put out by various publishers; for some of these the Smith drawings were redrawn by other artists, and for others the cards were rephotographed to create new printing plates. Many versions have been recolored as the coloration is rather harsh in the original deck, due to the limitations of color printing at the time. One example is the 1968 Albano–Waite Tarot, which has brighter colors overlaid on the same pen-and-ink drawings. Some recent U.S. Games editions have removed Smith's hand-drawn titles for each card, substituting text in a standard typeface. Altogether, these decks encompass the full range from editions very closely based on the original printings to decks that can at most be termed 'inspired' by the Waite–Smith deck.

Waite is often cited as the designer of the Waite–Smith Tarot, but it would be more accurate to consider him as half of a design team, with responsibility for the major concepts, the structure of individual cards, and the overall symbolic system. Because Waite was not an artist himself, he commissioned Smith to create the actual deck.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waite |first=Arthur Edward |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/42647945 |title=Shadows of life and thought : a retrospective review in the form of memoirs |date=c. 1997 |publisher=Kessinger Pub. Co |isbn=1-56459-242-1 |location=Montana |pages=184 |oclc=42647945}}</ref>

It is likely that Smith worked from Waite's written and verbal instructions rather than from sketches; that is, from detailed descriptions of the desired designs. This is how illustrators often work, and as a commercial illustrator, Smith would probably have been comfortable with such a working process. It appears that Waite provided detailed instructions mainly or exclusively for the [[Major Arcana]], and simple lists of meanings for the [[Minor Arcana]] or 'pip' cards. Thus the memorable scenes of the Minor Arcana owe largely to Smith's own invention. The Minor Arcana are one of the notable achievements of this deck, as most earlier tarot decks, especially those of the Marseilles type, have extremely simple pip cards. Smith's innovative illustrations for the Minor Arcana, with their rich symbolism, made the Waite–Smith deck a widely imitated model for other tarot decks.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaplan|2009|pages=76–77}}</ref>

Smith and Waite drew on a number of sources as inspirations for the deck's designs. In particular, it appears that Waite took his inspiration for the trumps mainly from the French [[Tarot of Marseilles]]. The oldest date from the 16th century, with his model possibly being a Marseilles deck from the 18th century. It is not unlikely that other Marseilles-type Italian tarot decks from the 18th or 19th century were used as additional models. For the pips, it appears that Smith drew mainly on the 15th century Italian [[Sola Busca tarot]];<ref name="autogenerated177">[[Place, Robert M.]] (2005) ''The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination'', Tarcher/Penguin, New York, 2005, pages 177-186 {{ISBN|1-58542-349-1}}</ref> the 3 of Swords, for example, clearly shows the congruity between the two decks. In addition, there is evidence that some figures in the deck are portraits of Smith's friends, notably actresses [[Ellen Terry]] (the [[Queen of Wands (tarot card)|Queen of Wands]]) and [[Florence Farr]] (the [[The World (tarot card)|World]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Jensen|2005| p= 31}}</ref>

Smith completed the art for the deck in the six months between April and October 1909. This is a short period of time for an artist to complete some 80 pictures,<ref name="autogenerated177"/> the number claimed by Smith in a letter to Stieglitz in 1909 and closely corresponding to the standard 78-card tarot deck.<ref>Kaplan, Stuart R.. ''The Encyclopedia of Tarot Volume III,'' U.S. Games Inc., Stanford, CT, 1990, p. 30 {{ISBN|0-88079-122-5}}</ref> The illustrations were most likely done in pen and ink, possibly over a pencil underdrawing; the original drawings are lost so this cannot be determined with certainty at present. They were either colored with watercolor by Smith or colored by someone else after the fact.