Little-known artist Pamela Colman Smith was the overlooked force behind the Rider-Waite Tarot. Tarot: A Graphic History reclaims her story and shows how her destiny was intertwined with the arcana she illustrated.

Discover the remarkable story behind the art that defined the classic Rider-Waite Tarot deck. 

Tarot: A Graphic History brings Pamela Colman Smith’s life, creativity and mystical influences to vivid life, offering readers a deeper appreciation of the cards and the woman who created them. 

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, a.k.a. 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. 

Tarot: A Graphic History is part of a visually stunning series that also includes Witchcraft: A Graphic History and Goddesses: A Graphic History, each exploring magic, mysticism, and the extraordinary women behind these traditions.