Created exclusively for Barnes and Noble, this deck and book set is one of those cute little "gifty" type of things you find in the bargain books piles up front in the major bookstores.  They do serve a purpose -- they are inexpensive, they are easy to pick up and give to someone who might otherwise not have any exposure to tarot, and, whether you like them or not, in the end they help to lessen the stigma that tarot has always had in the world at large.  Most of us who are already into tarot forget how many people in the world think that tarot is 'of the devil' or in some way evil; the more we see tarot being mass-marketed, the more we are able to overcome this stigma; much the same way that the television show "Charmed" helps to overcome the social stigma of witchcraft, even while being completely and totally inaccurate and fictional.
 
Once you open this cute ten-dollar gift set, with its lift-off lid, you find a tarot deck with the full 78 cards ensconced in a plastic drop-in tray, and a small square full-color paperback book which is of very good quality.  This is the usual case for these kinds of sets.  A lot of care goes into preparing them; Barnes and Noble seems to really like making these kinds of sets.  I've seen sets with runes, magic tricks, card games, you name it, they've done a gift set.  In fact this is probably the second or third *different* tarot gift set I've seen of this type.  This one is nicer than the others, in my opinion.

The Major Arcana cards in this deck seem to be based more on the Marseilles style of tarot than on the Rider-Waite, and a lot of the imagery is directly inspired thus.  Here you will see simpler characters than in many decks, with lovely soft colors used.  The titles are more Waite-based, using the High Priestess and the Hierophant rather than the Pope and Popess.  Justice is 8 and Strength 11.  This deck also has my absolute favorite Devil card, though it took me a second to "get it" when I first looked at it.  It shows a woman in red, almost like a harlot or certainly a woman who does not seem prim and proper; she has a little flying devil talking into one ear and a little flying angel talking into her other ear.  It's great!
 
The Minor Arcana are definitely Marseilles-style, since they feature pip cards instead of full scenes.  Each suit is colored with the same soft colored background, so that you can see a consistency throughout the Minors;  Wands are like a cream color, Cups are kind of peachy-pink colored, Swords are a pinky-purple color, and Pentacles are a darker yellow type color.  I guess I was surprised not to see the colors being red, green, yellow and blue, since those are more common and these don't really seem different enough from each other.  As mentioned, the titles for the suits are Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles, a tradition which seems to borrow from Waite more than the Marseilles norm.  The Page, Knight, Queen and King are likewise traditional.
 
The cards themselves are fairly standard in size but are cut of a slightly thicker stock and so have a "chunky" feel in the hand.  They are a little shorter and wider but not uncomfortable.  The edges are a little rough at first but nothing that will give a papercut or anything; corners are rounded and smooth.  The stock flexed surprisingly easily, making the shuffle very comfortable and thus the deck rates well for handle-ability.  The back design is soft and pretty with what looks like an apple tree, only instead of apples it has suit icons on it and a border with hearts in the corners.  It is single-ended so it is not a reversible back; you would know if the cards were upright or reversed by looking at the back.  There is no little white booklet since it comes with a decent book.
 
Mind you, when I say "decent book" I simply mean that it's got all the bases covered more or less for a beginner.  It's not a substantial tome that will satisfy with hours and hours of reading; five different spreads are given, one of which being the usual Celtic Cross.  I read through all the information presented and did not find anything I disagreed with, which is worthy of mentioning since many of these books offer nothing but drivel which the novice would not know for misinformation.  The explanations for the cards' meanings are very good for being brief.  Actually, come to think of it, I've seen larger books with less substantial or useable meanings.  The entire book is 64 pages long.
 
I can recommend this deck and book set for the collector, naturally, but I am pleased to say it would actually be a nice little introduction to tarot for someone who has never worked with it before.  Another benefit is that people who have been accustomed to working with a Waite-based deck would probably find this was a great way to start working with Marseilles-style cards and thus enrich their study, especially with the familiarity of the titles and the writing in the book being most helpful in this respect.  If you can find a copy, grab it!

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Review Copyright 2002 by Gina M. Pace

The Art of Tarot by Liz Dean, 2001
published by Barnes and Noble Books, New York
ISBN 0-7607-2711-2