Rider–Waite–Smith tarot

The modern Tarot standard, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909.

When someone says Tarot without naming a deck, this is usually the language they mean. The Rider-Waite-Smith deck did not invent Tarot, but it changed how a card could communicate: not only through rank and symbol, but through a person caught in a recognizable moment.

First issued

London, December 1909

Publisher

William Rider & Son

System

Arthur Edward Waite

Illustrations

Pamela Colman Smith

Cards

78, with scenic minors

First issued in 1909; Pamela Colman Smith died in 1951. Pulp works from a checked public-domain source. Modern restorations, recolours, scans, packaging, and branded editions may carry separate rights and are not treated as interchangeable with the historical artwork.