Roppo and all, thank you for the fascinating images and research and speculation. In 1970, when I was 16, I used an Albano-Waite deck and enjoyed the brilliant colorations. A few years later, I was informed the Rider was more authentic and became determined to have one. I located a copy, cost me $6.00, at Mythras Bookstore in La Jolla CA. I had a wonderful time comparing each card, carefully noting every change in color and detail, particularly the altering of the PCS sigil. I was especially weirded out by the Albano pentacles but there are so many differences! I knew something about offset and web printing back then and I imagined the only way to reconcile the discrepencies between the sets was that the original artwork was obviously black and white line drawings only. All of the color was added as dot screen overlays, hand painting, or other methods of building the plates.
My recent acquisition of the PCS Commemorative, and this thread of yours, seems to confirm that idea.
I may have missed it, but did you offer a primary source for your ideas about the crrections and changes made before the original drawings went to printers?
Thank you again for the stimulating thread!