RWS Deck Post-1970 Publishing History

Teheuti

Moved from other thread. As I get new information I'll edit the history in this first post so that it's easily available. Note that I found several items by Fulgour to be most helpful.

RWS Deck Post-1970 Publishing History:

1970 Rider-Waite Tarot (see original, 1909) “reissued in 1970 by U.S. Games Systems, Inc., New York; Hutchinson Publishing Group Ltd., London; and AG Muller & Cie, Switzerland.” _Encyclopedia of Tarot_, Vol. 1.
(Also notes: “Other versions issued by University Press, New York, and Albano Productions, California and Merrimack Publishing Corp.”)
The U.S. Games editions can be dated by copyright & reprint number on LWB and by the U.S. Games address on the box:

• 120 Wall Street, New York N.Y. 10005 (1968-1969) Published only Tarock No. 1 JJ in a white wrapper.

• 468 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016 (roughly 1970-1980) The copyright does not appear on the cards until around 1975. Matte finish (not plasticized).

• 38 East 32nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10016 (roughly 1980-1990). The cards became glossy (plasticized) around 1985.

• Stamford, CT (1990-on?)
1990 - Rider Delux, gilt edges.
1993 - "Original Rider-Waite" - based on Pamela C of 1931.
Circa 1995 the calligraphy titles were replaced with a typographic font. Carta Mundi bought A.G. Mueller (date?). A tiny sliver of the cards seems to have been eliminated.
Circa 2004 production switched to Italy. Modiano now print more or less all US Games decks, bar the ones they have manufactured in China. There’s a high gloss finish and lower print quality with uneven color balancing from card-to-card. Different typeface from the Carta Mundi editions.

1971-? Weiser edition:
“Before U.S. Games Systems Inc. put a copyright on Stuart R. Kaplan's "little white book" (the enclosed instructions, and not the actual Tarot and/or the art by Pamela Colman Smith), Weiser was working with Rider & Co. of London selling this deck in America. Weiser has their name on the famous yellow box, and their own edition of the "little white book" too.” (thanks to Fulgour Prentice on aeclectic & amazon).

Mid-20th century British printings of the deck appear as follows:

• (1931-53?) Dark green slipcase box: Rider and Co, 47, Princes Gate, London. Made and printed by Fisher Knight and Co Ltd, Gainsborough Press, St Albans. White-cover copy of “Key to the Tarot” No date. No copyright on cards.

• Waddington Playing Cards Co. LTD., 40 Wakefield Road, Leeds LS10 3TP, Yorkshire England. Publisher/Importer. No known example of an Waddington/non-Rider deck. [John Waddington Limited was a leading producer of playing cards and card games in the UK during the period 1922-1995. The company was founded in the nineteenth century by Mr John Waddington and Wilson Barratt as Waddingtons Ltd. It was renamed John Waddington Ltd in 1905. The original Mr John Waddington resigned in 1913. During the 1960s Waddington's bought La Ducale and then B.P. Grimaud, and in 1971 took over Alf Cooke. http://www.wopc.co.uk/waddingtons/index.html.

• Blue lift-off box with World card (yellow wreath & purple scarf). Printed by A. G. Mueller.
-Side 1 reads: The original and only authorized edition of Tarot Cards / Rider & Co, 3 Fitzroy Square, London W1 / in association with Waddington Playing Card Co Ltd.”
-End flap: “First edition 1910/ Reprinted many times to 1939/ Second edition 1971.”
-Side 3: Pamela Colman Smith’s name correctly spelled as “Colman.”
-No copyright on cards.
Lines sharper and colors slightly more intense than later versions. Matte. Fitzroy Square seems to be the address through 1975. [I have a Waddington-labeled deck with a LWB that says “This edition 1972 / Printed by Flarepath Printers Ltd., Watling Street, Colney Street, St. Albans, Herts.”]
[Accompanied by book: “Key to the Tarot” (same image as box): book (sold separately) says: “All Rights Reserved” First published 1910/This edition 1972/Second impression 1973/Third impression 1974. ISBN 0 09 109351 1.]

• Slightly lighter blue lift-off box with World card (green wreath & purple scarf).
-Printed by A. G. Mueller. Rider & Co -17-21 Conway Street - London W1P6JD. (Post-1975?)
-Pamela Colman Smith’s name spelled incorrectly as “Coleman.”
-Copyright on lower right margins of cards in editions after 1975. Same quality as U.S. Games. Matte.

• Purple lift-off box with Fool card. Copyright on cards.

• Royal blue with World and Fool on lift-off box. Rider & Co. (Random House). UK distribution only, March 1987. ISBN 0091093406

1971 U.S. Games claims copyright to the “Rider-Waite Tarot Deck”. This copyright only begins to appear on the bottom right-hand border of cards published after 1975(?). [Note: for the best reason as to validity of copyright see any discussion of the William Butler Yeats copyright, which has similar issues.]

Note: I still need info on WHEN decks were printed in Belgium and Italy, plus any other relevant details.

See Holly Voley's comparison of RWS clones at:
http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/ShipofFools.html
Frank Jensen shows an early Waddington's tuck box (early 70s?):
http://www.manteia-online.dk/waite-smith/blue-box.htm

Mary K. Greer
 

The 78th Fool

Hi Mary,

This may help. I ordered a standard Rider Waite from Alidastore in 2002. What arrived was a standard US Games, yellow box edition printed by AG Muller. The cards had a plasticised but not too heavy finish, almost a silk sheen. this was typical of Carta Mundi production around that time. By this stage Pamela Coleman Smith's calligraphy had been replaced by the standard font text at the bottom of the cards. The LWB states that this is US Games 53rd reprint since 1971.

Production switched to Italy around 2004. Modiano now print more or less all US Games decks, bar the ones they have manufactured in China. Unfortunately, this now means that all US Games decks have that awful, almost glutinous high gloss finish which makes them stick together and very difficult to shuffle. They also print at a lower definition than Carta Mundi and in almost every case the quality of reproduction has suffered. There seems to be little emphasis on accurate colour balancing either. Many of these new editions, for example, The Original Rider Wate or the Haindl Tarot appear washed out and yellowish in comparison to the earlier editions. Others like the Tarot of the Witches are too dark. All of these look fuzzier than their predecessors.

The standard Rider Waite has suffered the most. My copy is dated 2004 although the LWB no longer gives the row of numerals denoting the print history. The deck appears to have been scanned from an earlier edition and then retouched very badly in photoshop to try and disguise this fact. As a result you'll find that colours previously standard vary tremendously from card to card, so much so that the Ace of Pentacles now appears to have an aqua blue background rather than a grey one. In many places, the technician doing the retouching has missed bits out. The World card has three overly dark grey clouds but the fourth is almost white. In the Ace of Cups the rays emitting from the hand have been accidentally touched out in places but left in others. Virtually all the cards now look oversaturated and faces are muddy/grainy with an orange cast. Text is still standard typeface but a new font has been used rather than the one employed in the Carta Mundi editions. The LWB now uses the text of the Universal Waite Pocket Edition LWB. This still refers to the Universal Waite in places which can be irritating.

The box still refers to this as the 'Original and only authorised Waite Tarot Deck' but curiously, the new LWB omits the bit they used to have about the deck being based on waite's personal copy to ensure 'exactitude of symbols and colours'. I wonder why ?!
 

Teheuti

The 78th Fool said:
Production switched to Italy around 2004. Modiano now print more or less all US Games decks, bar the ones they have manufactured in China.
I've been out of town.

Thanks so much for the info. Anyone know when Carta Mundi took over (acquired?) A.G. Muller? When did the typeface first replace Pixie's calligraphy?

I guess we have to wait for the copyright to run out in Great Britain in 2012 to get a good printing job of the true original. [If the world survives past then!]

Mary
 

Cerulean

Here is a link to one Carta Mundi press release--2001?

"...This is the third take-over that Carta Mundi realises in a few years : in December 2000 the German 'Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten' were taken over and in January 1999 the Swiss AGMüller, which will now integrate Urania Verlags AG...."

It lists 1999 and the mentions are in 2001 another acquisition of daughter company Urania Verlag and AG Mueller...hopefully this is helpful to your question.



http://www.cartamundi.com/Content/com/corporate/news/prurania/1/index.html
 

barbaragraver

Teheuti said:
Moved from other thread. As I get new information I'll edit the history in this first post so that it's easily available. Note that I found several items by Fulgour to be most helpful...

Mary K. Greer

Thank you so much. Still digesting this but really very helpful!

Barbara
 

rwcarter

I was going to start a separate thread for this, but since Teheuti started with some info, I'll add info about my mini-collection of yellow-box USG versions here.

None of my boxes have complete addresses on the outside of the boxes.
Teheuti said:
The U.S. Games editions can be dated by copyright & reprint number on LWB and by the U.S. Games address on the box:

• 120 Wall Street, New York N.Y. 10005 (1968-1969) Published only Tarock No. 1 JJ in a white wrapper.

• 468 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016 (roughly 1970-1980) The copyright does not appear on the cards until around 1975. Matte finish (not plasticized).

• 38 East 32nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10016 (roughly 1980-1990). The cards became glossy (plasticized) around 1985.
I have 10 copies of the deck that don't have copyrights on them and have the 10016 zip code on the boxes. Unfortunately, 4 of them don't have their LWBs with them, so I can't place them in terms of the printing of the LWB. And one copy doesn't have a box, LWB or extra cards. The earliest printing that I can determine is the 7th and the latest is the 14th. Those decks all have 2 blank cards and the Magician on the box cover looks sunburned to various degrees. The decks without copyrights that don't have their LWBs have either no blank cards or two blank cards. In three of those decks, the Magician on the cover looks sunburned to some degree, while he doesn't on the other box. And two of those boxes are a darker yellow (goldenrod?) than the others (canary?). The printing on the top of those boxes is lighter than on all of the other boxes.

After the 14th printing, the next one I have is the 17th printing. It has copyrights on the cards, has one blank and one "other titles" card and isn't heavily laminated yet. The Magician on the cover has also lost his sunburn. So copyrights appear on the cards sometime between the 14th and 17th printings.

I have multiple copies of the 19th printing, which is basically the same as the 17th in terms of extra cards and finish on the cards. The 23rd and 26th printings are also basically the same as the 17th printing. The 33rd and 43th printings are still matte finish with copyrights, but they have bar codes on the bottom of the box. And somewhere between the 33rd and 43rd printing the title gets the ® symbol at the end of it on the front of the box.

Then I have a large gap until the 60th printing, which is heavily plasticized and has a PCS info card and an other titles card instead of blank cards.

I look at a friend's decks, and they have a Weiser with zip code 10003. There is no printing info in the LWB, and it has 2 blank cards and no copyrights. They also have a 48th printing with copyrights, 1 blank card and an other titles card. I didn't think at the time to check the lamination on the deck.

I also have an interesting deck that I haven't seen mentioned (or if I have, I've forgotten about it). It's a 33rd printing of the deck from US Games. It has matte finish cards and copyrights and has both an other titles and a Rider-Waite Tarot card in multiple languages. The Majors and Courts also have multi-lingual titles on the bottoms of the cards. Apparently a USG printing aimed for the European market.

I also have four copies of something called "A Special Tarot Gift Collection" put out by Signet Press. It includes the Rider Waite and paperback copies of "The Tarot Revealed" and "Mastering the Tarot" by Eden Gray and "The Sexual Key to the Tarot" by Theodor Laurence. Apparently this was sold for some period of time because I have:
  • a copy with a 10th printing of the deck that sold for $9.75
  • a copy with a 12th printing of the deck that sold for $10.95
  • a copy with a 19th printing of the deck that sold for $17.00
  • a copy with a 26th printing of the deck that sold for $18.95

Hopefully others can fill in the gaps from their collection so I can stop trying to corner the market on vintage Rider Waites.... :D

Rodney
 

KariRoad

Hi Rodney, It's helpful to remember that USG marketed the decks only, and take note that they packaged them in the US with Union printing for the LWB and boxes. This means that LWB "editions" often reflect not the deck, but simply the LWB. There were several distinct changes in the box as well, especially during the transition from "non-copyright" decks to those first appearing with a "copyright" added (during which time both non-copyright and then copyright decks had transition boxes) as well as the fact that "1971" really only applies to the LWB and not the deck, whatever year printed. ;) KariRoad
 

KariRoad

rwcarter said:
Hopefully others can fill in the gaps from their collection so I can stop trying to corner the market on vintage Rider Waites.
our collection (as of 27 January 2011)
253 no-copyright 'Rider' decks:
37 Weiser (known by box and/or LWB)
20 Blue Box (10 "Waddington")
196 USG (22 "Gift Sets")
____
253

happy to fill any information gaps! ask away :)
 

Lee

rwcarter said:
I also have four copies of something called "A Special Tarot Gift Collection" put out by Signet Press. It includes the Rider Waite and paperback copies of "The Tarot Revealed" and "Mastering the Tarot" by Eden Gray and "The Sexual Key to the Tarot" by Theodor Laurence. Apparently this was sold for some period of time because I have:
  • a copy with a 10th printing of the deck that sold for $9.75
  • a copy with a 12th printing of the deck that sold for $10.95
  • a copy with a 19th printing of the deck that sold for $17.00
  • a copy with a 26th printing of the deck that sold for $18.95
Rodney, I remember when these were sold, and that's how I bought my first RWS. There were two different sets available. One is the set you mentioned, and the other had three Eden Gray books. I bought the one with the three Gray books. I still have the paperback books and the deck, but the LWB is long gone.
 

KariRoad

As a note: I believe the "Gift Sets" were a marketing strategy to sell off the decks without the (c)1971 (more or less dumping them) in order to establish the standard USG Rider in the stores with the copyright. Based on my 22 gift sets I can see by the printing history of the books a better picture of the dates involved, rather than the LWBs. Eventually the gift sets had the copyrighted decks (no thanks!) and the books changed too. Also, so many of the early gift sets I acquired were like new (battered box, but practically untouched contents) which leads me to believe these often lived in a drawer unappreciated by the owner until they turned up on eBay where people usually ignored them because they didn't want the books!

PS: having 22 copies of "The Sexual Key to the Tarot" is weird beyond words. :smoker:

Edited to add: Eden Gray's books (printed in paperback by Signet) do not have the "images used by permission of US Games Systems Inc" bit of nonsense. She used the University Books deck for her illustrations!