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{{Short description|1910 book by A. E. Waite}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = The Pictorial Key to the Tarot
| image         = Pictorial Key to the Tarot.jpg
| caption       = Title page of the first edition, dated 1911
| author        = [[Arthur Edward Waite]]
| illustrator   = [[Pamela Colman Smith]]
| country       = United Kingdom
| language      = English
| subject       = [[Divinatory tarot]]
| publisher     = [[William Rider & Son]]
| published     = 1910/1911
| pages         =
| isbn          =
| dewey =
| congress =
| oclc =
| wikisource    = The Pictorial Key to the Tarot
}}

'''''The Pictorial Key to the Tarot''''' is a  [[divinatory tarot]] guide, with text by [[A. E. Waite]] and illustrations by [[Pamela Colman Smith]].  Published in conjunction with the [[Rider–Waite–Smith tarot deck]], the pictorial version (released 1910, dated 1911)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Pictorial Key to the Tarot |url=https://waitesmith.org/index.php/the-pictorial-key-to-the-tarot/ |website=House of White Tarot Museum & Research Library |accessdate=17 February 2020}}</ref> followed the success of the deck and Waite's (unillustrated 1909) text ''The Key to the Tarot''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Key to the Tarot |url=https://waitesmith.org/index.php/the-key-to-the-tarot/ |website=House of White Tarot Museum & Research Library |accessdate=17 February 2020}}</ref>  Both Waite and Smith were members of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]].  Waite was very concerned with the accuracy of the symbols used for the deck, and he did much research into the traditions, interpretations, and history behind the cards.  

The book (which Waite himself called "a [[monograph]]") consists of three parts.
# Part I, "The Veil and Its Symbols", is a short overview of the traditional symbols associated with each card, followed by a history of the [[Tarot]]. Waite dismissed as baseless the belief that the Tarot was Egyptian in origin, and noted that no evidence of the cards exists prior to the 15th century.
# Part II, "The Doctrine of the Veil", contains 78 black and white plates of Smith's illustrations for the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, and a discussion of the unique symbols chosen for each card. Waite drew upon the earlier Tarot of French occultist [[Eliphas Levi]], at times retaining his changes to the traditional deck (as with the Chariot card, which both Waite and Levi picture being drawn by two [[sphinx]], instead of horses), at other times criticizing him (as with the Hermit card, which Waite thought Levi misinterpreted).
# Part III, "The Outer Methods of the Oracles", concerns matters of divination with the cards, including a description of the famous Celtic Cross Tarot layout, which the book helped popularize.

In 1916, American author [[L. W. de Laurence]] published an exact facsimile copy of the book under the title ''The Illustrated Key to the Tarot: The Veil of Divination, Illustrating the Greater and Lesser Arcana'' without giving any credit to Waite or Smith.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{wikisource-inline|The Pictorial Key to the Tarot|''The Pictorial Key to the Tarot''|single=true}}
* {{commonscatinline|The Pictorial Key to the Tarot|''The Pictorial Key to the Tarot''}}
* [[commons:File:The Pictorial Key to the Tarot.pdf|PDF of the 1922 reprint]]

{{Occult tarot}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pictorial Key to the Tarot, The}}
[[Category:1910 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:English-language non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Books about tarot]]