Abrac
When I first made this document I was under the impression that the de Laurence version was an "exact facsimile" of the PKT as it says on Wikipedia, so I used its text. But after looking more carefully I discovered there are some major differences, maybe to get around copyright law, I'm not sure. So I went through and compared line by line to see exactly what all the differences are; some of what I discovered is listed below.
I did a complete revision; this time I compared the de Laurence to the "1911" version at Sacred Texts. For the most part I stuck to the Sacred Text version, correcting some errors it contains. Here's one example:
In a few places I used the de Laurence because it's actually better. For example, it corrects a couple of Latin typos, and in one place it italicizes a book title that's not italicized in the PKT:
The reference is to Bayley's book but without the italics it's not immediately obvious what Waite means.
But the de Laurence has some very critical mistakes:
1. Some key phrases have been completely rewritten. For example in the PKT Preface:
2. Words that aren't italicized in the PKT are italicized in the de Laurence for no apparent rhyme or reason, and it's not consistent throughout, as if the book had more than one editor.
3. Several words have been stripped of their British form and changed to American: "favour" and "honour" for example.
4. Waite's use of the archaic "shew" has been changed to "show" in the de Laurence.
5. de Laurence has a strange way of capitalizing the first letter of each word in book titles such as "Tarot Of The Bohemians" rather than "of the."
6. The description of the King of Pentacles is messed up in both versions. The de Laurence completely omits a couple of important sentences, one of which is Waite's explanation for his use of the Pentacle.
7. One paragraph in the Lesser Arcana section is at the beginning when it should be at the end.
Overall the new PDF is a huge improvement over the last one. It should be a reliable and easy to read version of the PKT. I didn't use internal hyperlinks this time except for the endnotes, they're more trouble than they're worth; but it still has bookmarks. Download link above has been updated.
I did a complete revision; this time I compared the de Laurence to the "1911" version at Sacred Texts. For the most part I stuck to the Sacred Text version, correcting some errors it contains. Here's one example:
"Chatto's Facts and Speculations concerning the History of Playing Cards", should be "Chatto's Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards."
In a few places I used the de Laurence because it's actually better. For example, it corrects a couple of Latin typos, and in one place it italicizes a book title that's not italicized in the PKT:
"I commend this suggestion to the lineal descendants in the spirit of Gabriele Rossetti and Eugène Aroux, to Mr. Harold Bayley as another New Light on the Renaissance."
The reference is to Bayley's book but without the italics it's not immediately obvious what Waite means.
But the de Laurence has some very critical mistakes:
1. Some key phrases have been completely rewritten. For example in the PKT Preface:
"After the same manner, it happens more often than might seem likely that those who have seen the King of Heaven through the most clearest veils of the sacraments are those who assume thereafter the humblest offices of all about the House of God."
and De Laurence,
"After the same manner, it happens more often than might seem likely that those who have seen the Occult Powers of Nature through the most clearest veils of the sacraments are those who assume thereafter the humblest offices of all about the House of Wisdom."
and De Laurence,
"After the same manner, it happens more often than might seem likely that those who have seen the Occult Powers of Nature through the most clearest veils of the sacraments are those who assume thereafter the humblest offices of all about the House of Wisdom."
2. Words that aren't italicized in the PKT are italicized in the de Laurence for no apparent rhyme or reason, and it's not consistent throughout, as if the book had more than one editor.
3. Several words have been stripped of their British form and changed to American: "favour" and "honour" for example.
4. Waite's use of the archaic "shew" has been changed to "show" in the de Laurence.
5. de Laurence has a strange way of capitalizing the first letter of each word in book titles such as "Tarot Of The Bohemians" rather than "of the."
6. The description of the King of Pentacles is messed up in both versions. The de Laurence completely omits a couple of important sentences, one of which is Waite's explanation for his use of the Pentacle.
7. One paragraph in the Lesser Arcana section is at the beginning when it should be at the end.
Overall the new PDF is a huge improvement over the last one. It should be a reliable and easy to read version of the PKT. I didn't use internal hyperlinks this time except for the endnotes, they're more trouble than they're worth; but it still has bookmarks. Download link above has been updated.