CROWLEY, Aleister and Frieda Harris/.

Thoth Tarot Cards. ( First Color Printing ) [ Aleister Crowley Tarot Deck ].

St Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publishing, ND [1972]. First Edition. A set of 78 tarot cards + "caliph card." Card size 5 1/2" x 3 3/4". Original printed outer slipcase with thumb-notches, cardboard inner box with gilt metallic finish covering. A first printing of the Llewellyn edition of the Thoth Tarot cards, the first ever colour printing of the full Thoth deck. David Hall / David Tibet association set (see further below). The deck was published with the collaboration of Grady McMurtry (then Caliph of the O.T.O), Lee Heflin, and Gerald Yorke. Prior to that Crowley and Harris had printed seven color test cards in 1943, and Simpson Printers had published a single-color edition (known as the "Sangreal One Color Tarot") in 1968. Known within tarot collecting circles as "White Box A" this deck is sometimes said to have been printed in 1969, whereas in fact it did not appear until 1972. The cards of the deck are distinguishable by two errors: the "Eight of Cups" is lacking the numeral that is normally stamped in the upper margin, and the image on the "Ace of Disks" is printed upside down. Unlike later printings this edition was not accompanied by a booklet although it does have a separate card with a short explanatory text, and the contact details for Hymenaeus Alpha - Grady L. McMurtry - "the Caliph card." (Thanks to R. Leo Gillis for his help with this listing). A remarkable association deck: previously owned by British artist, writer and musician David Tibet (founder of the music group Current 93) who had had been given the deck by David Hall (1942 - 2007), contributor to and co-editor of Sothis magazine, author of various works including "Beelzebub and the Beast." It is accompanied by a SIGNED, hand-written note by Tibet confirming its provenance. The cards themselves are in about Fine condition, the original two-piece printed box in VG + condition, the gilt inner box is in remarkable condition showing little of the normal rubbing, and the out box is lightly rubbed and a little darkened and with a tiny chip from the paper cover of the front panel. All said both cards and box are in much better condition than normally encountered (the boxes are often heavily rubbed and starting to split). An exceptional example. Item #61786

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