by Rachel Pollack
Salem House, 1985
Comments: This is an odd little book that offers a surprisingly sparse description of its origin. Apparently at some point in his career the artist Salvador Dali created a complete set of illustrations for his own version of a Tarot deck -- though little of that story is provided by this book. What it does provide is a very nice presentation of the artwork for the complete deck, with each card having its own full-page, color reproduction. Dali's work for the series is in a montage style, combining found prints with his own characteristic symbols and painting. (The cover illustration, shown above, has Dali casting himself as The Magician card.) Each piece is accompanied by a basic description of its Tarot meanings, but the artwork is plainly the star of the book.
Although it purports to be a book on the Tarot, to anyone interested in fine art this is clearly an art book. It's obvious fault is that it makes no attempt to give any context for how Dali came to create these pieces. Nonetheless, it's fascinating to browse these illustrations, even if you have no interest in the Tarot. For anyone who admires Dali's work this little book is well worth finding.
Copy Notes: Hardback, first edition, richly illustrated with color plates
