In 1909, artist Pamela Coleman Smith, under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite, created an innovative 78-card tarot deck that would come to be recognised as revolutionary. With descriptive pictures on the 56 Minor Arcana cards, the Rider-Waite deck digressed from the tradition of tarot deck used for centuries and set the standard for nearly every tarot deck published.

Dr. Arthur Edward Waite, the revered 19th- and 20th-century occultist and metaphysical scholar, had insight enough to create a tarot deck that peers into the human spirit with both subtlety and and directness. The Rider Tarot Deck is the only original, authorised Waite deck since his death in 1942, and contains all 78 major and lesser arcana cards. Artist Pamela Coleman Smith accents the slightly oversized cards with Roman numerals, bright yellow backgrounds, and Waite-commissioned illustrations. These perceptive images are based on a medieval theme and are known for affecting each user personally.

The deck comes with a detailed thumbnail instruction booklet in the box and a small biography about Waite and his legacy.