I would like to add some comments.
1. LINE DRAWINGS
The line drawings of the 1930 deck by Paul Marteau are exactly the line drawings of the Arnoult-Grimaud deck published in 1891 by Grimaud.
Notice that the Arnoult-Grimaud deck from 1891 is a Besancon type, so there is Junon and Jupiter instead of Papesse and Pape.
It was called "Tarot italien"
This is the deck with "Arnoult 1748" on the two of Deniers
What Paul Marteau did, is:
- to reintroduce the Papesse and the Pape
- a kind of new coloring of the cards.
He also made a few very minimal corrections here and there on tiny details of the line drawings.
Considering this and the fact that the Marteau deck is still in print today, one can say that this deck is in print since 1891!
2. LINE DRAWINGS MAJORS
The line drawings of the majors of the "Arnoult Grimaud" deck are identical to an older deck with the same mention "Arnoult 1748", but printed by Lequart.
Notice that Lequart has been bought by Grimaud in 1891.
It means that Grimaud had access to the print plates (whatever they were) of Lequart.
The line drawings of the "Arnoult lequart" are different from the "Arnoult Grimaud" and have a lot of similarity to the Conver deck without being exactly the same.
The Arnoult-Lequart is also a Besancon deck with Junon and Jupiter.
This means the majors line drawings of the Paul Marteau deck are identical (except for Junon and Jupiter) to the line drawings of the Arnoult-Lequart deck.
This deck is usually dated from 1890 but it is not clear when this deck has been first printed, but definitely prior to 1891.
3. PAPESSE, PAPE
One thing stays not clear: where do the Pape and Papesse images came from?
They are probably a rework of the Conver-Camoin pictures.
They are very Conver-like and one should not forget that Grimaud and Camoin made a fusion in 1888 and Camoin had (and still has) the woodblock of a Conver deck.
This means that Grimaud had since 1888 access to the original woodblocks of the Conver-Camoin.
4. COLORING
The recoloring of Paul Marteau is possibly not really a completely new creation.
As we know, according to Camoin, the bi-centenial edition of the Conver-Camoin has been printed directly from the original woodblocks.
Further and still according to Camoin, the coloring used for the bi-centenial edition seems to follow the coloring of the 18 century.
The coloring of Paul Marteau is for mostly all cards identical to Camoin coloring!
As a side note to the coloring question, one may mention the interesting theory of Flornoy about this.
Flornoy believes that Paul Marteau wrote his book and his interpretations of the cards based on the coloring of a Camoin-Conver deck.
As the still printed tarot Italien (as it was called at this time) did not match the coloring of the Camoin-Conver deck, it was necessary to change the color of the pictures of the Tarot Italien in order to match the meanings of Marteau, otherwise, it would have been necessary to rewrite the book!
I am not sure if this is true as Flornoy theory is based on the existence of an early version of Marteaus book with the Camoin-Conver pictures (prior to the printing of the deck)
I indeed do have a copy of Marteaus book (see
http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=782619&postcount=58 from the Marteau TDM thread) with Camoin-Conver cards glued on each page but the printing of the book is from ... 1970!
CONCLUSION
Though indeed Paul Marteau seems to have made some personal corrections, one should not forget where does the deck come from:
- The Arnoult-Lequart deck from 1890
- the Arnoult-Grimaud deck from 1891
- and last but not least the Camoin-Conver from 1760.
I find it great that we can follow a part of the the history of this deck which is still in print today and has always been in print and not only from 1930 but from 1891!
This is a great difference with reprint of historical decks that once disapeared.
It is a real living deck
Best regards
