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 :
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 :