It is at this point, Part 2 (out of 3) of the book that the 1966 re-engravings of Wirth’s cards makes its appearance in the post 1927-editions. The story of the Wirth and Wirth-like cards begins in 1889. Inside the text of Papus's Tarot des Bohemiens were small versions of the 22 cards he had designed; along with them came colored versions in card form. Then in Wirth's own book of 1927, he used, inside his text, the small black and white images of 1889. But also, in a pocket on the back inside cover (of the 1927), he put colored cards in designs that were very similar to the 1889 except in a few details; also, these cards had geometrical forms around the side and top borders.
In 1966 Wirth's book was republished in France. But instead of re-issuing Wirth's 1927 cards, an artist redid the cards in a way that would look good in black and white, for insertion into the text as card-sized images in place of the small 1889 ones. Probably the thinking was that if someone wanted to, they could make photocopies of the images, color them according to Wirth's instructions, and glue them to note-cards to use as cards. In a pocket in the back of the book was a pocket with the 22 actual colored cards; but if someone didn't want to use them day to day, they could make their own from the black and white engravings. This was something Wirth had already recommended, but now the technology had developed to make it possible to use the images without cutting up the book or somehow tracing the lines. The 1985 English translation did the same; but now, if someone wanted pre-colored versions, it was necessary to buy the cards separately, as part of 78 card decks, or buy a French edition.
By 2012, the 1927 cards were unavailable and the 1966 were not really by Wirth. Like the French editions, the 2012 English edition has the 1966 re-engraved cards in black and white at the beginning of each of the 22 section, omitting the old 1889 images that Wirth had put there in 1927. But instead of including the 1966 colored versions at the back of the book, the publisher included, on stiff paper, the 1889 colored images, which people could cut out if they wished. These are at least genuinely Wirth, if not those he did for the 1927 book.
The problem is that these 1889 cards do not correspond in either their engraving or coloring to the descriptions in Wirth’s 1927 book. That is why he designed the new deck. It is true that the 1966 cards do not have the geometric forms around the edges that distinguish his 1927 cards. But neither do the 1889. Moreover, he does not mention these geometric shapes anywhere in his book. For seeing visually what he describes in his book, it doesn't matter. And in every other respect, the 1966 colored cards, even if not by Wirth, are far more similar to the 1927 cards than the 1889 are, as I will try to show.
First, how are the 1966 cards different from the 1927, aside from the geometric shapes? I can find only two discrepancies, on cards 12 and 13.
The first discrepancy is a notorious one, that the poles on the 1966 Hanged Man card do not change color from blue to green going up: they are green all the way. The 1889 does have a change, but seems to be the opposite, going from green, or greenish-blue, to light blue.
(Here for the 1889 I used the cut-out at the back of the 2012 edition of the book. The 1927 is a 6 inch print-out on photo paper. The 1966 is the card in the 2014 reprint of the 1966 French edition; the gold color is not actually as brown as on the scan. Nor does the 1927 have the greenish tint that often shows up. For more details on the 1889 see Kenji at http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=173257. For the 1927, the truest images I have seen, although of low resolution, are those by "club do taro" (it's Portuguese), at http://www.clubedotaro.com.br/site/g...th_maiores.asp.)
The second discrepancy is that in the 1927, all the titles are on the bottom, with the Arabic numeral to its left. The only exception (ignoring the Fool, which has no number) is the Death card, where there is no title, and the number is on the top left, blending it in with the abstract designs (it is easy to overlook; I missed it until Filippe pointed it out in a later post). The 1966, however, puts the numbers on top, in the middle, and in Roman numerals, although the titles remain on the bottom, except that there is no title for Death. In contrast, the 1889 shows both the Arabic numeral (except for the Fool, of course) and the name, including the name for the Death card, on the bottom.
In general the 1889 cards differ from the 1927 in numerous ways in which the 1966 do not.
For the Bateleur, Wirth changed the number of coins/pentacles visible from three to one, which the 1966 copies faithfully. The same for his switch of the red end of the wand from bottom to top. Red and blue are important symbols, for fire and water and the corresponding emotions. There are also some color changes in the clothing. My print-out of the 1927 cut off a bit off the top of the card and came out a bit dark.
For the Popess, Wirth in 1927 added the image of a sphinx on the side of her chair, a yin-yang symbol on her book, her face is light-skinned rather than dark, and the right pillar is blue rather than dark gray of 1889. These details are all copied faithfully. in the 1966 Popess.
For the Empress, Wirth changed the moon beneath her feet so that the horns pointed down, and a circle was added to surround the stars. These details were copied faithfully.
The Emperor lost the armor on his knees and feet, as well as a distracting and unclear symbol on the eagle (seen more clearly in the lower image; for which I used Kenji's scan, somewhat enhanced). The 1927 was copied faithfully by the 1966.
I am not going to go through all the cards. Some of the details are minor, some not. A big change is in the color of the jugs on the Temperance and Star cards, very important to Wirth's color symbolism (which he spells out specifically in his book); it may also figure into his Kabbalistic/alchemical framework. In the 1889 cards, he made the jugs both gold (they might look brown, but I think that is partly fading). In the 1927 and 1966 cards the ones on the right are silver.
So as far as capturing Wirth’s 1927 ideas, the 1966 cards are better than the 1899. His thinking matured. The 1889 cards are of historical and artistic interest, and for that you can download them in color from Kenji's site, or from Gallica at http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b105110785.
In my view the best thing, for using the card as an aid while going through the book, is to download the 1927 images and print them. Wirth didn't have any divinatory advice about the 56 other cards. And what he has to say will apply to most Marseille and Marseille-based cards, if you remember it.
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