Which Thoth?

I was having the same dilemma, trying to decide which version of Thoth I wanted to work with. I purchased the Premier Edition prior to 'feeling the call' to Thoth Tarot. After working with it I found the coloring to not be to my liking. Too soft. So I opened the green box Thoth I had tucked away in my collection.

Low and behold! Beautiful! Wow. The only thing is it's monstrous. I was wondering if it still holds true that the Swiss printings are brighter in coloring than the ones I have...? Of course specifically referring to the medium sized one.

I looked at the Tarot Garden comparison chart. I was wondering though, is it always the case that the printings look that way... it's so confusing to choose.

Nixxxy,

You could use the larger sized cards for meditation and study, and then smaller cards for spreads and what not? That is what I do. When I want to do spreads, I have a small sized deck with the borders cut off. When I want to study and meditate, I use the larger one.

Chiska said:

Nixxxy,

You could use the larger sized cards for meditation and study, and then smaller cards for spreads and what not? That is what I do. When I want to do spreads, I have a small sized deck with the borders cut off. When I want to study and meditate, I use the larger one.

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That's a good idea! I really connect with the coloring in the larger one. It's moving. But you are right. The larger one gives me the boost I need to continue using the smaller one for readings. I think that'll work.

Nixxxy said:

.......I was wondering if it still holds true that the Swiss printings are brighter in coloring than the ones I have...? Of course specifically referring to the medium sized one.......

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It's hard to tell from scans. Of course, some OTO purists insist that even the current green and purple boxed printings (presumably Belgian) are too saturated in color and do not conform to the original paintings. I question this, as the originals are in watercolor, a medium which is notorious for fading under exposure to light. (I rather think that the otherwise somewhat flambouyant Crowley would have preferred bright colors. Perhaps he was intimidated by Harris' artistic expertise and dared not question her color preferences, but this seems out of character for him.)

LRichard said:

It's hard to tell from scans. Of course, some OTO purists insist that even the current green and purple boxed printings (presumably Belgian) are too saturated in color and do not conform to the original paintings. I question this, as the originals are in watercolor, a medium which is notorious for fading under exposure to light. (I rather think that the otherwise somewhat flambouyant Crowley would have preferred bright colors. Perhaps he was intimidated by Harris' artistic expertise and dared not question her color preferences, but this seems out of character for him.)

Click to expand...

I have a Swiss early 3 Magus one and the USG green box. The early Swiss is A LOT brighter.

Assuming Konigsfurt tell the truth (if anyone is going to Venice for the Biennale, they could take a look) their new - paler - German edition is closer to the originals. The curators of the Warburg collection agree - and they say the painting have been very carefully stored.

I have no idea. But I do know that the early Swiss decks are the brightest - but not in a garish way. I would be VERY surprised to see watercolour originals quite that bright, actually. And my sister - an accomplished watercolorist - agrees...

Thanks for the food for thought there, L Richard and gregory.

Great thread...

I am still in awe of the Thoth but my first readings (without reading the BoT) went well, a year or two back. The editions confuse me as do the RWS! I have the two modern ones, purple normal size and the bigger version. What are these generally know as? Howdo they compare to the original colours?

Apologies for my Thoth ignorance here. No disrespect intended, it's a learning thing!

For me - I refer to them thus:

US Games Purple Box - the small sized one with 3 magus
US Games Green Box - the big one in the green box

TarotGarden has a handy comparison chart: http://www.tarotgarden.com/library/decks/thothtable.php

With pictures!!

The only thing missing is the Small Card Size White Box. I have two of these. They are like the US Games Purple box, but a bit bigger, but are in a box just like the White Box C.

Here I quoted the few bits that I had seen posted in threads I was reading re Thoth color authenticity (in one case the coloring in general), within the last few days. This is in response to Winterchild.

LRichard said:

It's hard to tell from scans. Of course, some OTO purists insist that even the current green and purple boxed printings (presumably Belgian) are too saturated in color and do not conform to the original paintings. I question this, as the originals are in watercolor, a medium which is notorious for fading under exposure to light. (I rather think that the otherwise somewhat flambouyant Crowley would have preferred bright colors. Perhaps he was intimidated by Harris' artistic expertise and dared not question her color preferences, but this seems out of character for him.)

Click to expand...

gregory said:

I have a Swiss early 3 Magus one and the USG green box. The early Swiss is A LOT brighter.

Assuming Konigsfurt tell the truth (if anyone is going to Venice for the Biennale, they could take a look) their new - paler - German edition is closer to the originals. The curators of the Warburg collection agree - and they say the painting have been very carefully stored.

I have no idea. But I do know that the early Swiss decks are the brightest - but not in a garish way. I would be VERY surprised to see watercolour originals quite that bright, actually. And my sister - an accomplished watercolorist - agrees...

Click to expand...

Emily said:

All the versions of the Thoth are pretty much the same, unless you manage to get a White Box Greeny, then the whole deck is a fetching shade of pale green even the ink used for the fonts.

Did you take a look at the Via? That's pretty vibrant. There aren't many Thoth clones around.

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That's not quite true about all the white box ones - they tend to be muddier and some versions (White Box A) cards are often blurred, and the borders of the earliest ones are plain and oddly coloured - from blue to turquoise. The greenie has decorative borders but not as NEAT as the Muller ones.

Also the backs of the white box ones are borderless. And one printing has misprints - the Ace Coins is upside down, for one thing.