The Illustrated Key to the Tarot by de Laurence - philc

[madmash]

The Illustrated Key to the Tarot by L.W. de Laurence (1868 - 1936).

This project can now be found in our catalog at https://librivox.org/the-illustrated-key-to-the-tarot-by-l-w-de-laurence/

July 2020 moved to On Hold at the request of the soloist. NOTE: January 2022 this project picked up by Lightcrystal and so it will finish as a group project.

L.W. de Laurence, an occult and spiritual author and publisher, not only provides a history of the Tarot for fortune-telling purposes, but writes "a harmony of the meanings which have been attached to the various cards." De Laurence also offers a simple method for divinatory work with the cards, as opposed to the "cumbrous and involved" handbooks of the day. ( )

• Text source (only read from this text!): http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43548
• Type of proof-listening required (Note: please read the PL FAQ): standard
  
  
  
  IMPORTANT - soloist, please note: in order to limit the amount of languishing projects (and hence the amount of files on our hard-pressed server), we ask that you post an update at least once a month in your project thread, even if you haven't managed to record anything. If we don't hear from you for three months, your project may be opened up to a group project if a Book Coordinator is found. Files you have completed will be used in this project. If you haven't recorded anything yet, your project will be removed from the forum (contact any admin to see if it can be re-instated).
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  Magic Window:

  
  
  BC Admin
  ============================================
  Genres for the project: *Non-fiction/History /Modern (19th C)
  Keywords that describe the book: symbolism, Occult, divination
  ============================================
• The reader will record the following at the beginning and end of each file:
  No more than 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning of the recording!
  START of recording (Intro):
  • "Part [number] section [number] of The Illustrated Key to the Tarot. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox DOT org"
  • If you wish, say:
    "Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
  • Say:
    "The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, by L.W. de Laurence. [Chapter]"
  
  
  
  
  END of recording:
  • At the end of the section, say:
    "End of [Chapter]"
  • If you wish, say:
    "Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
  • At the end of the book, say (in addition):
    "End of The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, by L.W. de Laurence. "
  
  There should be ~5 seconds silence at the end of the recording.
• Example filename illustratedkeytothetarot_##_delaurence_128kb.mp3 (all lower-case) where ## is the section number (e.g. illustratedkeytothetarot_01_delaurence_128kb.mp3)
  
  
  Transfer of files (completed recordings)
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  • Upload your file with the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
    (If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin)
  • You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: philchenevert
  • When your upload is complete, you will receive a link - please post it in this thread.
  • If this doesn't work, or you have questions, please check our How To Send Your Recording wiki page.
  
  Any questions?
  Please post below

[philchenevert]

Hi. I will set this up for you. As a note, the proper link for the text should be http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43548. We use the main page. Easy to replace.

Should be an interesting read. I added a tilde ~ to the title to show that you will need a Proof Listener. since this is your first solo, please ask if anything is confusing.

EDIT: You may need more sections than 4 and if so just ask it is easy to add 'em.
Here is a video on getting into the magic window for the first time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cDPSmlTjGM&t=99s
as Book coordinator (BC) for this project you will be maintaining this. I have added the title of section 0 to show yhou.

[madmash]

Phil, thanks so much for getting me set up and for showing me the ropes! I appreciate it greatly. I will let you know if I have any questions.

[Leni]

I'll be happy to DPL.

[philchenevert]

The soloist usually approves the DPL so please let me know if Leni is OK. ( I assure you, she is most definitely OK!!)

[madmash]

Hi, Leni! Thank you for volunteering to be the DPL! It's great to have you. I will be recording this weekend and hope to have an update soon!

[Godgifu]

It might be worth mentioning that de Laurence is notorious for putting his name on other people's work. The book is probably by Waite.

[philchenevert]

It might be worth mentioning that de Laurence is notorious for putting his name on other people's work. The book is probably by Waite.

Hi Godgifu. How can we check that out?

[as a side note, I recently did a phrase origin video about the phrase Peeping Tom and I think that Lady Godiva, as we call her now, was originally Godgifu, Gift of God. Is that your name origin? And is that really the meaning of your name? I am no scholar and may have it all wrong. You sound like a person who knows and loves literature]

[Godgifu]

It might be worth mentioning that de Laurence is notorious for putting his name on other people's work. The book is probably by Waite.

Hi Godgifu. How can we check that out?

[as a side note, I recently did a phrase origin video about the phrase Peeping Tom and I think that Lady Godiva, as we call her now, was originally Godgifu, Gift of God. Is that your name origin? And is that really the meaning of your name? I am no scholar and may have it all wrong. You sound like a person who knows and loves literature]

here's the text for Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot, which you can see is the same: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Pictorial_Key_to_the_Tarot

(And yes, from Godiva.)

[philchenevert]

The wiki page states they have no original source so the matter seems up in the air. Since Gutenberg has de Laurence as the author there doesn't seem any pressing reason to change to Waite. But I'm open for any more information, thanks.

[madmash]

I've done more research into the origins of this text and the history of the Tarot in general. Here's the shortened story: Arthur Edward Waite wrote "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot," which was the companion handbook to what is now commonly referred to as the "Rider-Waite-Smith" Tarot card deck. He published this in England in 1910. L.W. de Laurence, an American publisher of occult topics, pirated the text in 1918 and changed only two things about it -- the word "Pictorial" to "Illustrated," and the author "A.E. Waite" to "L.W. de Laurence."

So yes, the book I'm reading is plagiarized. It is nearly exactly -- if almost entirely -- the same as the Waite version. The Waite (read: original) version is not listed on Project Gutenberg, but the de Laurence version is. Even though I believe what de Laurence did was wrong, I find this back story incredibly fascinating. Some have argued that the Tarot's popularity in the United States was a direct result of de Laurence's "book" -- which we now know, of course, was Waite's.

How does Librivox feel about this being recording into the catalogue now? Does anyone object to it? I won't go through with the recording if this crosses any lines -- again, I don't agree with de Laurence, but somehow the story is enchanting to me.

Edit to add -- here are some sources I've found about this matter:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pictorial_Key_to_the_Tarot
https://waitesmith.org/index.php/decks/l-w-de-laurences-key-to-the-tarot/

[Godgifu]

I've done more research into the origins of this text and the history of the Tarot in general. Here's the shortened story: Arthur Edward Waite wrote "The Pictorial Key to the Tarot," which was the companion handbook to what is now commonly referred to as the "Rider-Waite-Smith" Tarot card deck. He published this in England in 1910. L.W. de Laurence, an American publisher of occult topics, pirated the text in 1918 and changed only two things about it -- the word "Pictorial" to "Illustrated," and the author "A.E. Waite" to "L.W. de Laurence."

So yes, the book I'm reading is plagiarized. It is nearly exactly -- if almost entirely -- the same as the Waite version. The Waite (read: original) version is not listed on Project Gutenberg, but the de Laurence version is. Even though I believe what de Laurence did was wrong, I find this back story incredibly fascinating. Some have argued that the Tarot's popularity in the United States was a direct result of de Laurence's "book" -- which we now know, of course, was Waite's.

How does Librivox feel about this being recording into the catalogue now? Does anyone object to it? I won't go through with the recording if this crosses any lines -- again, I don't agree with de Laurence, but somehow the story is enchanting to me.

I would put both titles and authors on the listing since it's the same text, myself -- that's how it would be easiest to look for. "Illustrated Key to the Tarot (Pictorial Key to the Tarot) by L.W. de Laurence (A.E. Waite)"

[Leni]

Giving my two cents here, giving the back story added here (which would be interesting to put in the book summary!) I would also go with adding both authors.

[madmash]

Okay, I think adding in Waite's name is a good idea. Phil, Leni - do you have any suggestions on how to read the titles and authors aloud? Does de Laurence come first? Should I add any extra words like "originally written" by A.E. Waite? And would this change any of the file namings i.e., (illustratedkeytothetarot_01_*delaurence*....)?

Again - newbie here - so thanks for your input!

[philchenevert]

I think we should stick with the author as shown in Gutenberg. The notes about potential original sources can be put into the project description and everything can be explained there but please don't make any absolute claims unless you have absolute proof. What seems obvious to us may have many other explanations. As I have said earlier, I am open to further documentation and proof about this but until then let's keep it simple and just record the book as presented in Gutenberg with the author as shown.