Once considered revolutionary, the Rider-Waite® deck has become the most popular tarot deck in the world, and has set the standard for hundreds of other tarot decks. The cards were drawn in 1909 by Pamela Colman Smith under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite. Smith's vibrant drawings transformed the standard tarot deck. "A unique feature of the Rider-Waite® deck, and one of the of the principal reasons for its enduring popularity, is that all of the cards, including the Minor Arcana, depict full scenes with figures and symbols. Prior to the Rider-Waite® Tarot, the pip cards of almost all tarot decks were marked only with the arrangement of the suit signs -- swords, wands, cups, and coins, or pentacles. The pictorial images on all the cards allow interpretations without the need to repeatedly consult explanatory text. The innovative Minor Arcana, and Pamela Colman Smith's ability to capture the subtleties of emotion and experience have made the Rider-Waite® Tarot a model for the designs of many tarot packs." -- (from The Encyclopedia of Tarot, Volume III)
