The well-illustrated anthology,
Tarot in Culture (in two volumes) stands out as one of the most scholarly of the recent books (finally out this year)! I highly recommend it. The essays explore the history and evolution of the Tarot deck and Tarot culture with the focus on divinatory/occult/psycho-spiritual Tarot rather than the game (although it's covered, too). The editor, Emily E. Auger, maintained the highest standards for a scholarly approach.
Stuart Kaplan, who just got his copy of the book, called me yesterday to let me know he really appreciated the work that went into my "Tarot Timeline from 1750-1980" (high praise, indeed). If you want to determine the sequence of events, decks and books that went into the development of modern occult Tarot, then I think I've annotated most of them (Vol 1). And don't miss my "Iconographic History of the Lovers Card" in Vol. 2.
Although it is available as an ebook, I highly recommend getting either a hardcover or paperback edition. Information and links to the various versions are here, including the table of contents:
http://emilyeauger.weebly.com/tarot-in-culture.html