The Magician in "The Book of Ceremonial Magic" by Waite

[roppo]

I believe we can regard the drawing of The Magician on the frontcover of The Book of Ceremonial Magic by A.E. Waite (published by William Rider, 1911) as an official variation of RWS pictures. Today I got it and found many interesting points. First of all, the picture is different from that of Pam-A or The Pictoriak Key to the Tarot or The Occult Review.

http://grimoire.blog.ocn.ne.jp/doll/files/bocm02.jpg
http://grimoire.blog.ocn.ne.jp/doll/files/BoCM01.jpg

The main diferences are

1) Roman number. BCM Magician has no Roman number.
2) the plants and flowers. BCM Magician's lines are better than OR's.
3) the size. BCM Magician is the bigger (106*168mm) compared to OR Magician (100*160mm, excluding title space).

I suppose the BCM picutre is an enlarged one done by a copyist. If it was done by Pixie Colman Smith herself, she could have corrected the half-missing- PCS monogram. The copyist did a good job and the leaves and flowers are in fact better than Pixie's shown in the OR. But the total size of the hanging flowers are out of proportion compared to the OR ones. (It's my firm belief that the OR drawings are the most faithful reproductions of the originals).

And the most interesting feature for me is the absence of the Roman Number "I" and the presence of leaves in the place. Are these leaves the creation of the copyist? Or, Pixie's original drawing had leaves there and the "I" was the later addition by her or the editorial staff? Now I come to think it's possible that originally, all the RWS drawings had no Roman number and they were later put in there, by the artist herself, or a staff. If it were that case, then we can make a really reasonable explanation for the "oops line" of The Sun. It must be a "forgot to erase" mistake by a staff, not a "oops!" by Pixie.

By the way The Tarot of the Bohemians by Papus (William Rider, 1909) has Pixie's Wheel of the Fortune on its frontcover. I have yet to procure the copy of the book. Anyone who has a copy would be kindly requested to scan the drawing by at least 300 dpi and upload it on the net!

PS. for those who cannnot see the pictures from my blog :

[teomat]

Originally Posted by roppo

And the most interesting feature for me is the absence of the Roman Number "I" and the presence of leaves in the place. Are these leaves the creation of the copyist? Or, Pixie's original drawing had leaves there and the "I" was the later addition by her or the editorial staff? Now I come to think it's possible that originally, all the RWS drawings had no Roman number and they were later put in there, by the artist herself, or a staff. If it were that case, then we can make a really reasonable explanation for the "oops line" of The Sun. It must be a "forgot to erase" mistake by a staff, not a "oops!" by Pixie.

Hmm...it's an interesting idea. I've just flicked through my deck and it's hard to tell whether the numerals were part of the original design or if, as you say, they might have been added later.

However the very prominant empty bar at the top of the Ten of Pentacles seems to suggest to me that they were part of the original design - unless this particular picture had been squashed or cropped in some way to make room for it (although the pentacles are perfectly round).

I do find it a little odd though that the font style of of the numerals tends to vary quite a lot. As if they were done by two different people...

[Debra]

Are you sure that's a drawing, Roppo? It looks like a block print to me.

[Abrac]

It looks like a photo negative. Is that the way it actually looks roppo, or is it just the scan?

My guess is they took the number out for the book. A number would make sense in the context of a deck of cards, but since the book is specifically about one subject a number might seem out of place, or less necessary at least.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by Abrac

It looks like a photo negative. Is that the way it actually looks roppo, or is it just the scan?

I may be mistaken, but it looks to me like the picture on the book cover was stamped in gold ink onto the fabric of the cover. So the design may look like a negative depending on how the light is striking it.

[Debra]

Right. That's what it is--the first picture shows the book cover. Sorry I got confused!

[Abrac]

Yes, I think you're right Lee. You can kinda see the gold in the first picture.

[roppo]

Originally Posted by roppo

By the way The Tarot of the Bohemians by Papus (William Rider, 1909) has Pixie's Wheel of the Fortune on its frontcover. I have yet to procure the copy of the book. Anyone who has a copy would be kindly requested to scan the drawing by at least 300 dpi and upload it on the net !

Okay, never turn to others when it comes to book collecting. Today I got a beautiful copy of Papus's The Tarot of Bohemians (London: William Rider & Son, 1910).

general look of the book
http://grimoire.blog.ocn.ne.jp/doll/...bohemian-1.jpg

big pitcure of front cover (1MB)
http://grimoire.blog.ocn.ne.jp/doll/...erbohemian.jpg

The Wheel of Fortune on the frontcover(115mm*180mm), gold line on the indigo, is wonderful indeed. And the line is better than that of the WoF of PKT. More horizontal width, no Roman numeral. PCS monogram is a strange one, C and S being jointed to form a single stroke.

Though the book is dated 1910, it was on the market in November 1909. There is an advert in the book as follows:

"The Tarot pack of 78 cards (together with The
Key to the Tarot) may be obtained on applica-
tion to the Publisher -- William Rider & Son,
LIMITED, 164 Aldersgate Street, London, E.C."

I believe this WoF is one of the earliest official RWS pictures and tells us lots of things.

[Abrac]

That's an awesome book cover, thanks for sharing it.

[greatdane]

WHAT a find! Thank you so much for sharing the cover. Looks like it's in incredible condition. I hope you will share more as you delve into it.

GD