Robert M. Place The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination book

[Pretzel]

Has anyone here read Robert M. Place's book, the Tarot History, Symbolism & Divination? I got this a while ago after seeing it recommended by quite a few tarot readers. As I was reading it, I decided to look at some of his other books and was surprised to see "The tarot, magic, alchemy, hermeticism and neoplatonism" - especially since it sounded a lot like the "history, symbolism" book. 

 

It took a bit of digging on Robert's website to find out that the "alchemy, hermeticism etc" book is an updated version to correct errors in the "history, symbolism" book.

 

I have to say I stopped reading because I was annoyed that the first part of the book I read spent so much time and emphasis on debunking certain theories and now I'm wondering if anything I've read is correct.

 

Would love to know if anyone has read both books and how much difference there is between them etc. I guess I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth finishing it. Also noting that the "alchemy and hermeticism" book is over $70 locally.

Thanks!

[HOLMES]

It would depend on how much the updates are.

I have the original and enjoyed it. The 3 card spreads helped. Me to see it more then just put present future. 

As he is quite scholarly I doubt mistakes are major. 

Is it possible to email and ask about the changes?

[Pretzel]

@HOLMES Thanks. Yep, I have no idea how updated it is, and if the updates are just history, in which case it wouldn't bother me, or if it's more in the translation of the symbolism. 

Thanks again.

[DanielJUK]

I've searched online and I cannot find any comparisons of the books or the fact changes

 

We had an old forum thread discussing this new edition as it was coming out....

 

 

On Goodreads, the reviews are very good and say it is greatly expanded. It's now nearly 700 pages.

 

I found this page for it on Place's blog here which says....

 

The Tarot, Magic, Alchemy, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism Third Edition incorporates the material that was in Alchemy and the Tarot and The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination, but updates the facts and, as you can tell by the title, covers a lot more material—about three times as much, with 680 pages and over 302 illustrations.

 

It looks like it puts together several of his books and is a much larger book. Also "updates the facts" I think isn't the same in the text here as corrects errors. It's possible that is the PR friendly wording of that but it could be it adds more history and context to existing ideas and directions. I don't know. I would try contacting him, he is on social media and discusses things on places like Facebook in the online tarot communities regularly. Find him on your preferred social network and reach out to him, maybe he would tell you a bit more 🙂 .

[Eric13]

I was looking into his cards and books last night after reading the post by our new friend Hobbit. I'd like to know why his books sell for so much. Let alone cards. Yes I understand they're out of print, but jeez, its more "ooooh! Igottahaveit!" And boom, it goes on the shelf. 

I don't want to take away from the OP though.

Edited August 28, 2022 by Eric13
Added last sentence.

[gregory]

I don't actually like his decks - they feel very cold to me, but his book is solid. That said I prefer Huson and Giles. I absolutely don;t like it enough to buy a revised version (I have the original one.) Not least as I don't have the energy to read it again.

[HOLMES]

The, 

The artwork on his decks is not for me as well. 

I had his alchemical, and angel tarot. So swore off his decks, but had to get his vampire tarot for I liked the Harker image I saw but  find it hard to read with . 

But his writing is good,he's quite knowledgeable I think for the layman. 

My preferred style for artwork is more tarot of the eternal night,(in comparing vampire decks), so really the mistake was my own, the review at the time were good so talked into it.

 

Which is why I brought his book in the first place. The good reviews at the time. This was just before more textbook books came out.. 

Like theory, speculation and ideas were starting to be back up by facts. 

 

[Pretzel]

13 hours ago, DanielJUK said:

I've searched online and I cannot find any comparisons of the books or the fact changes

 

We had an old forum thread discussing this new edition as it was coming out....

 

 

On Goodreads, the reviews are very good and say it is greatly expanded. It's now nearly 700 pages.

 

I found this page for it on Place's blog here which says....

 

The Tarot, Magic, Alchemy, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism Third Edition incorporates the material that was in Alchemy and the Tarot and The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination, but updates the facts and, as you can tell by the title, covers a lot more material—about three times as much, with 680 pages and over 302 illustrations.

 

It looks like it puts together several of his books and is a much larger book. Also "updates the facts" I think isn't the same in the text here as corrects errors. It's possible that is the PR friendly wording of that but it could be it adds more history and context to existing ideas and directions. I don't know. I would try contacting him, he is on social media and discusses things on places like Facebook in the online tarot communities regularly. Find him on your preferred social network and reach out to him, maybe he would tell you a bit more 🙂 .

 Thanks so much for that Daniel. It was quite a while ago that I looked it up on Robert's website and I'll admit I haven't looked lately - I was just going through my kindle and remembered why I stopped reading it. It definitely was not worded that way when I first looked, as this certainly reads to me as if it's 'extra' stuff. This might be another case of a junior doing copywriting and they've fixed it - or yes, could be worded better now after getting some other feedback? Either way, I guess I wouldn't mind the opinion of someone who has read both. And if I do stumble upon the "alchemy & Hermeticism" version at a decent price (currently over US$60 with shipping where I am) - then I'll snap it up. Too bad it's not on Kindle!

[Pretzel]

9 hours ago, gregory said:

I don't actually like his decks - they feel very cold to me, but his book is solid. That said I prefer Huson and Giles. I absolutely don;t like it enough to buy a revised version (I have the original one.) Not least as I don't have the energy to read it again.

Thanks Gregory. Which is the Huson Giles?

[gregory]

Two separate books.

Paul Huson - Mystical Origins of Tarot

Cynthia Giles - The Tarot: History, Mystery and Lore

[Wyrdkiss]

42 minutes ago, gregory said:

Two separate books.

Paul Huson - Mystical Origins of Tarot

Cynthia Giles - The Tarot: History, Mystery and Lore

Giles was the first real book I read about the tarot that stuck with me. Excellent recommend. 

[Pretzel]

Oh cool, thanks @gregory I've read a bit about the history over the years, but I love reading and I always learn something different even if it's the same topic.

[gregory]

9 hours ago, Wyrdkiss said:

Giles was the first real book I read about the tarot that stuck with me. Excellent recommend. 

 

She's brilliant - there's a second by her: Methods, Mastery and More - also very good.

 

But beware of her Tarot: The Complete Guide which is her History Mystery and Lore under another name ! (I ended up with three copies at one point because of this.... I have some very grateful friends...)