KNOWN by some only as the artist of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, a beautiful new book explores the life and artwork of Pamela Colman Smith, who spent her final years in Bude.

Pamela, born in London in 1878 to American parents, spent most of her life in England, and died in her apartment on the second floor of Bencoolen House, Bude, on September 18, 1951, aged 73.

She was a stage and costume designer, folklorist, poet, author, illustrator of ballads, folktales and Irish poems, suffragette, and publisher of books, posters and broadsheets. But sadly passing away both penniless and obscure, she never realised the impact of her art on the world, according to Stuart Kaplan, publisher of US Games, who has spent over 20 years of research creating this biography of Smith alongside three other scholars.

For example, in 1907, Alfred Stieglitz exhibited 72 of Pamela’s paintings at his Photo-Seccession Gallery in New York City. The show created a sensation and was held over for an extended run.

The authors, who were chosen based on their expertise and scholarly research, have devoted their years of research to uncovering what is told in their new book ‘Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story’, which is a beautifully presented and a richly illustrated biography of Pamela’s life with essays on the events and people that influenced her.

Pamela was said to have collaborated with hundreds of persons active in the arts during the early 19th century including Ellen Terry, Edy and Gordan Craig, John Butler Yeats, Jack and W B Yeats, Arthur Ransome, Bram Stoker, and Henry and Lawrence Irving, to name just a few.

W B Yeats is quoted in the book as saying: “Her work, whether a drawing or the telling of a piece of folklore is very direct and original and therefore sincere — its originality being its naïveté.”

She attended The Pratt Institute in New York, where she was widely regarded as a child prodigy.

The book showcases over 400 examples of her non-tarot artwork. There is also a chronological survey of her folktales, art and poetry and an exploration of her lasting legacy.

The authors said the book’s release in 2018 is ‘especially timely as it is the 140th anniversary of the birth of the artist, and the 50th anniversary of US Games Systems, Inc, publishers of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck’.

Each author — Mary K Greer, Stuart R Kaplan, Elizabeth Foley O’Connor and Melinda Boyd Parsons — has travelled extensively to Bude, The Lizard and London, retracing Pamela’s life and searching in vain for Pamela’s gravesite, which remains unknown to this day.

A Catholic, Pamela lacked the financial means necessary at the time of her death to pay for a burial plot and headstone at the closest Catholic cemetery in Launceston, so authors think it is highly probable she was buried in an unmarked grave in St Michael’s Cemetery, the Bude Anglican parish church. “However, all the relevant burial records from this period were destroyed in a fire, making it impossible to determine Pamela’s final resting place.”

‘Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story’ is a thorough and fascinating insight into an artist whose work might have otherwise been forgotten about.

Stuart Kaplan told the Post: “I am glad to have the opportunity to present the life and art of Pamela who deserves recognition for her various accomplishments. She died in Bude in 1951 and sadly her gravesite is unknown.”

The book is available in the UK from distributor: Publishers Group Ltd in London. Copies are available to buy from reputable online bookshops, and any UK bookshop will be able to order the title, which retails at £38. The limited edition retails at £170. Alternatively, readers can order the book directly from the Cash Sales department of GBS, the distributor’s fulfillment centre: 01206 255777.