Rider-Waite Decks

In 1910, the Rider company of London published a Tarot deck designed by Golden Dawn member Arthur Edward Waite and illustrated by Golden Dawn artist Pamela Coleman Smith. This deck is now called the Rider-Waite or Rider-Waite Smith Tarot and is one of the best known and commonly used decks today.

There are different versions of the Rider-Waite deck. They pretty much have the same artwork but have some variations with clarity and color. Here are some of the Rider-Waite version decks. They are identifiable by the design on the back of the cards.

• Golden Rider Tarot

  
  
  
  
  
  

• Rider Tarot (often called the first modern deck)

• Original Rider-Waite (although it is not the real original).

•  Radiant Rider -Waite

  
  
  
  

• Universal Waite

  
  
  
   
  
  
  Which one is the best to get for your first Rider-Waite deck? I have both the Universal Waite and Rider Tarot decks and prefer the images on the Universal Waite because they are sharper and the colors are better (in my opinion) than the Rider Tarot. I do like the images on the Radiant Rider-Waite because the colors are really, well, radiant. 
  
  
  I would not recommend getting the Original Rider-Waite (and most Tarot enthusiasts do not particularly like this deck). The images are a bit "messy" and have a brownish hue to them. It is ideal if you can look at the actual cards before getting them, some stores will have sample decks that you can browse through. If not, look up images of the cards in a particular deck on Google to get a better idea.