XXII Keys of The Tarot : Arland Ussher 1957 [ Dolmen Press , Yeats ]
$450
In stock
Description
First, Limited Edition of Tarot Guide by Arland Ussher Featuring Cards From the Collection of Mrs WB Yeats
Ussher, Arland. MacWeeney, Leslie, illustr. The XXII Keys of the Tarot. The Dolmen Press. Dublin, Ireland. 1957. First edition.
An illustrated guide to the trumps of the Tarot written by Percival Arland Ussher (1899 – 1980), Anglo-Irish academic and essayist, with evocative descriptions for each card of the major arcana including insights on runic, Hebrew, astrological, and mythological associations.
The twenty-two etchings were completed by illustrator Leslie MacWeeney based on a historic deck Ussher acquired in Paris, however, cards II and V (the Papesse and Pope, respectively) are copied from tarot cards lent by Georgie Yeats, wife of poet and occultist W.B. Yeats, whose daughter, Anne, was a collaborator with The Dolmen Press founders Liam and Josephine Miller. Along with her husband, Georgie Yeats was interested in occultism (her experiments with automatic drawing would later help inspire Yeats’ A Vision (1925)) and took a tarot inspired insignia for her bookplate.
Intended to be limited to a total of 250 copies, including 50 signed, hand-colored special editions, according to MacWeeney the special edition was never completed due to paper shortages. Her uncut hand-colored art now resides at Boston College.
60pp + [2]. Small 8vo. Quarter linen bound in marble paper boards. Title and author printed to spine. Corner bumped and worn with losses. Some bubbling to linen borders. Includes 22 illustrations. Hand numbered 73 of 250. Good.
If you liked this item, you might also enjoy this second edition copy of Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, the first to feature the famed introduction by WB Yeats. You might also enjoy this signed copy of Tarot Talismans by Chic and Tabatha Cicero.
