Wirth-influenced decks

Sumada

Kenji, thank you for those very kind words, but the honour is all mine I can assure you! Afterall, I was admiring your wonderful site long before I even had one!
And thank you also for those Wirth images, especially that Moorish Fool.

Mary, I hadn't noticed that Omaha Old Market Tarot; le Fou is certainly Wirth-ian alright :~)

Lee, thanks for your succinct summary of Wirth's decks too. I see I have lots more to get yet...

...but those I do have can be seen here, and the following pages:-

http://sumada.multiply.com/photos/album/97/Oswald_Wirth_Tarot
 

Teheuti

RedWheel/Weiser has asked me to write an introduction to a new edition of "Tarot of the Magicians". It's just been confirmed today.

I appreciate all the info that everyone has provided so far (at the moment I'm comparing 17 variations on the Wirth deck just to see what others have done with it).

Anyway, I'd be grateful for anything else that anyone has to offer - either information or things you'd like mentioned. My introduction will only be a couple of pages, so I won't be covering any individual aspect in depth.

One thing I'm pretty sure of is that Wirth was directly involved in creating the designs for the mosaics at the Tarot Chapel of the Chateau de Aveniéres. There are many reasons for this, only one of which is that the Chapel, completed in 1917, has details that appear in Wirth's 1927 book but aren't in his 1889 deck and correct coloring (according to that book) that doesn't appear in any of the Wirth decks.

Anyway, I'm sure there are other enlightening things that we could all piece together.

Mary K. Greer
 

Sumada

Let's hope they use genuine Oswald Wirth illustrations this time!
 

Teheuti

Let's hope they use genuine Oswald Wirth illustrations this time!
I'm hoping!!! I've made several suggestions along those lines, but have no final say in the process. They refuse to change the English title, but are considering a sub-title that might include "Medieval Image-Makers" or "Medieval Images" in it. I'm doing the best I can for the cause!

Also, if anyone knows of any corrections to the text, please let me know ASAP. I've found a couple of blunders but don't know much French - mostly it's when I see something that doesn't make sense and when I turn to the French see that it was a translation mistake.

Mary
 

Patrick Booker

I am afraid I know little about the Wirth deck, but coincidentally I am just reading 'The Wisdom of the Tarot' by Elisabeth Haich. This is based upon the Wirth images, and she includes them in the book. This is probably the first time I have ever seen this deck. There are clear differences between some of these and the images on Sumada's site. According to Haich, the deck was created 'at the dictation of the young initiate, Stanislas de Guita'. Maybe the images in the book were created for the author by an artist that she knew, but I cannot find any acknowledgement of them.

Patrick
 

Lee

I am afraid I know little about the Wirth deck, but coincidentally I am just reading 'The Wisdom of the Tarot' by Elisabeth Haich. This is based upon the Wirth images, and she includes them in the book. This is probably the first time I have ever seen this deck. There are clear differences between some of these and the images on Sumada's site. According to Haich, the deck was created 'at the dictation of the young initiate, Stanislas de Guita'. Maybe the images in the book were created for the author by an artist that she knew, but I cannot find any acknowledgement of them.
I believe the images in the Haich book are the same as these:
7. In 1966, Wirth's 1927 book Le Tarot des imagiers du moyen age is republished by publisher Claude Tchou in Paris. The card images appear as black and white illustrations in the book and also as a color deck of cards included with the book. Wirth's images were redrawn by an artist named Michel Simeon.
Which are also the ones used in the USGames deck (majors).
 

Sumada

I have noticed over the years that different publications of 'The Wisdom of the Tarot' by Elisabeth Haich have had slightly different images! But they are all basically Wirth copies or clones...
 

Teheuti

I am afraid I know little about the Wirth deck, but coincidentally I am just reading 'The Wisdom of the Tarot' by Elisabeth Haich. This is based upon the Wirth images, and she includes them in the book.
Haich's book is an unacknowledged rough translation (with some additional commentary) of Wirth's book: from French to German and then into English.
 

Patrick Booker

All of this is very interesting, and new to me. Having read Elisabeth Haich's autobiography, 'Initiation', I assumed that this was her own work. Somewhere in the text, she states that the artist has drawn one of the images incorrectly.

Patrick
 

Patrick Booker

Some of Haich's ideas from 'Initiation' do appear in her Tarot book. Presumably part of her additional commentary.

Patrick